IB's New Leadership Course in Singapore Prepares Students for Sustainability and Peace

Singapore Students Excel as IB Expands, Introducing Groundbreaking Leadership Program

The International Baccalaureate (IB), a renowned global educational organisation headquartered in Switzerland, is piloting a new course on leadership and problem-solving in four schools worldwide. Among these, the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore has enrolled 54 students from its Dover campus into this innovative course as part of their diploma program since August 2024. This initiative equips students with the skills to address complex, real-world challenges, including sustainability and peace, through a project-based learning approach.

Established in 1968, the IB now encompasses over 5,900 schools across more than 160 countries, educating over two million students. The IB was introduced to Singapore in 1977 and is currently offered in 41 schools, up from 37 in 2020 and 31 in 2015. Of these, 36 are international schools where students take IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) exams in May. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) became Singapore's first national school to offer the IB instead of A levels in 2005. Following this, St. Joseph’s Institution, School of the Arts, Singapore Sports School, and Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah adopted the IB, with their students sitting for exams in November.

The new course, Systems Transformation: Leadership for Change, replaces two conventional IBDP subjects and adopts a project-based approach instead of traditional exams. Students are evaluated through case studies, projects, and portfolios, focusing on pressing issues such as sustainability and peace. Both the IBDP and A levels are two-year programs for students aged 16 to 18. While A levels rely predominantly on exams, IBDP assessments are more comprehensive, with final exams contributing 70% to 80% of the total score. IBDP students must study subjects across six groups: language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics, and the arts.

In an interview with The Straits Times on March 21, IB Director-General Mr. Olli-Pekka Heinonen mentioned that if the course proves successful, it could be expanded to all IB schools globally by 2030, based on stakeholder feedback and implementation feasibility. During his visit to Singapore in March for the IB Global Conference, which brought together over 1,600 educators from 40 countries, Mr. Heinonen emphasised the importance of integrating innovation and leadership. He highlighted that fostering qualities such as agency, motivation, purpose, and identity requires individuals to take responsibility and embody the change they seek.

In May 2023, the IB stopped publishing data on students achieving perfect scores of 45. According to Mr. Heinonen, this decision was made to discourage comparisons among students, schools, or countries, which could harm student well-being and hinder collaboration. Nevertheless, Singaporean students continue to excel in the IB, often representing nearly half of the global perfect scorers and consistently outperforming the global average. Mr. Heinonen attributed this success to Singaporean schools' efforts and the country's strong educational values, including parents' emphasis on their children's education and extracurricular learning opportunities.

Having followed Singapore's education system since his 1996 visit as Finland’s Minister of Education, Mr. Heinonen praised its thoughtful adaptation to global challenges while maintaining a long-term perspective. He commended recent initiatives, such as the revised PSLE grading system, full subject-based banding, and the Direct School Admission exercise, as examples of Singapore's forward-thinking approach. The IB's innovative leadership course reflects a forward-thinking approach to education, preparing students to address global challenges with purpose and agency.

Editor’s Note:

The introduction of the IB’s Systems Transformation: Leadership for Change course is a timely and progressive move in education, especially in a world increasingly defined by complex global challenges like sustainability and peace. This project-based course, which replaces traditional exams with more holistic assessments, signals a shift towards preparing students with knowledge and with the critical thinking and leadership skills required to make a real-world impact. Singaporean students consistently outperform global averages and dominate with perfect scores, showcasing their academic excellence. However, the IB's decision to stop publishing perfect score data highlights the issue of unhealthy competition. While the move aims to reduce pressure and foster collaboration, the challenge remains in balancing motivation with a well-being-centered, less competitive environment in a system historically focused on measurable success. Ultimately, the Systems Transformation course is a bold step in rethinking how we educate future leaders. If successful, it could pave the way for integrating leadership, innovation, and social responsibility into global curricula. However, the real challenge lies in balancing academic excellence with the development of well-rounded individuals equipped to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.

According to Skoobuzz, Singapore’s continued emphasis on long-term, coherent educational development may just hold the key to this balancing act.