he International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) is announcing the next application cycle for tuition-free scholarships in partnership with the University of the People for educators to complete an online Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree. With the launch of these fully-funded scholarships, the IB aims to eliminate the accessibility barriers to quality education and fill the global need of more than 69 million teaching positions by 2030 as estimated by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) to meet United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
The M.Ed. degree reflects the IB’s approaches to teaching and learning, provides in-depth knowledge of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to support student-directed inquiry, interdisciplinary learning, and critical thinking. The IB is committed to supporting educators and helping them advance their knowledge to reach the next stage in their careers. These scholarships aim to eliminate accessibility barriers to high-quality educator development and empower the students in their communities.
“‘I intend to use the knowledge I will acquire with this degree to start a programme I have named it ‘Give Back Programme’ modelled on the Diploma Programme (DP) core, creativity, activity, service (CAS) to help young children learn more effectively by interacting with their communities and giving something back to their communities’’, noted Gabriel Boateng, History Teacher at Ghana International School.
The IB has awarded 196 scholarships since the beginning of the programme in 2019 to provide teachers with greater access to advanced degrees in education. During the last application cycle, the IB received 328 applications from 27 countries around the globe. 33 IB community volunteers reviewed applications from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, who graciously dedicated their time reviewing the applications.
Awardee Olalekan Adeeko, teacher at Baptist Boys High School in Nigeria, noted, “The University of the People scholarship will help me fulfil my long-term goal of lifelong learning. Whether you are 17 or 50 years old, you should always strive to learn more about the world”.
Applications for the IB’s University of the People scholarship reopened on 11 January and will close on 8 March 2022. Applicants will be notified of their results on 18 April 2022. For more information on the scholarships, please visit the IB website on how to apply.
