Univ doors open to IB students - TOI - 23/01/2008

Univ doors open to IB students

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: International Baccalaureate (IB) students need no longer worry about re-entering the Indian system after Class XII. Mumbai University has clarified in a letter to Farzana Dohadwalla, IB representative for South Asia, that IB diploma holders will be eligible for technical courses such as engineering and pharmacy as well as regular degree courses in the science, arts and commerce streams provided they opt for the subject combinations on offer.
IB diploma students who have applied for these courses in the past have complained about the lack of clarity in the rules. A few months ago, the University arrived at a decision on the matter at its standing committee meeting.
IB diploma holders who have opted for physics and mathematics at the higher level and chemistry at the standard level are eligible for a Bachelor’s degree in engineering—except for chemical engineering which will be restricted to those who have studied maths and chemistry at the higher level and physics at the standard level.
All those who study chemistry and math at the higher level and either physics or biology at the standard level are eligible for a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy.
IB students can also seek admission to a vanilla BA, BSc and BCom degree depending on their IB scores. While the IB diploma is a graded examination across the world, for Indian students, the International Baccalaureate Organisation converts the grades into marks, so that the students can seek admission to undergraduate courses in India.
“It’s very important for universities in India to recognise the IB diploma. The number of students joining IB schools in India is increasing exponentially. We are not producing IB students in order to send them abroad. We want them to enter the Indian system. They are students of high calibre and will enrich the university they attend,’’ said Indu Shahani, vice-president, who is on the global board of governors at the International Baccalaureate Organisation. She was recently appointed Mumbai’s sheriff.