International Baccalaureate in Open Gate
Open Gate Boarding School in Babice near Prague became the first purely Czech school (with the Czech Ministry of Education accreditation) to be awarded the accreditation to offer 2-years International Baccalaureate Diploma courses (IB). Open Gate, which is founded and financed by the Educa Foundation of Renáta and Petr Kellner, will offer this internationally accepted educational programme as of the 2009/2010 school year. Open Gate students come from all parts of the Czech Republic, also from single-parent families or from orphanages.
Open Gate submitted its IB application two years ago and since then the school went through an extensive accreditation process which comprised of thorough testing by commissions from International Baccalaureate headquarters in Switzerland. IB commissioners tested Open Gate teachers‘ preparedness to teach according to the IB methodology, as well as whether the school library met international standards necessary for quality research or whether the school itself had all the necessary educational equipment and facilities to offer the IB Diploma programme. Commissioners also interviewed students in order to be assured that they understood what the IB represented. Apart from the academic criteria of the IB, students had also to realise that being part of the international community meant contribution to the development of those less fortunate than themselves, supporting the compulsory community service element of the IB curriculum.
IB commissioners praised Open Gate’s preparedness, a high level of education and of English knowledge, as well as the school equipment and co-operation with parents. Open Gate proved its ability to provide a programme which was based in objective continuous assessment, and that their results would be instantly comparable and measurable with 2,000 IB schools worldwide. Open Gate school was awarded the accreditation to offer IB Diploma courses with no conditions attached.
Says Open Gate Headmaster, Peter Nitsche: "We are proud to be able to offer our students the opportunity to study the IB, to gain a qualification that really is the gold standard of international education, and thereby increase their chances of gaining university entry anywhere in the world. For example, Harvard or Oxford take IB Diploma in consideration during their entrance procedures. The Czech Ministry of Education also regards International Baccalaureate positively and after our official application is approved, Open Gate IB Diploma will be accepted by the Czech ministry as secondary school-leaving examination. We begin teaching IB courses from September 2009 and IB exams will be scheduled for 2001. Open Gate students will be able to choose whether they want to sit for the international exams or the Czech „maturita“ – according to which university they will opt for, whether Czech or abroad."
