Braeburn offers Sh3m course for students who dislike exams

Valentin Maraite admits she does not test well. Her ideal education system is one that has few or no exams.

Ethan Ndung’u does not enjoy taking exams too. The two recently found a comfortable way of getting the much needed education, with reduced inconvenience of having to sit countless exams.

That opportunity came with the recent establishment in Nairobi of the Internal Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP) at the Braeburn Garden Estate School.

Ms Maraite and Mr Ndung’u, who are enrolled at Braeburn’s Garden Estate School, are part of the programme’s pioneer class – a first in Africa.

IBCP integrates courses studied in the Internal Baccalaureate (IB) diploma programme and career related study course, in the Braeburn case, the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) National Diploma qualification.

“The course is hands-on and very practical,” said John Herbert, the Executive Head Teacher of Braeburn Garden Estate School.

There are four components , including approaches to learning, community and service, language development and a reflective project.

Students study 12 units from the BTEC diploma as well as two IB subjects, which can be sports exercise and health science, psychology, business and management, economics, art and design, history, information technology in society or environmental systems and society.

In addition, a student is required to learn a new language with the option of French, Spanish and Kiswahili as well as complete the reflective project.

Braeburn students are taken through extensive research skills, in preparation for their entry to university. Most of the courses available under the IBCP are business-related.

“The course is not very relevant for those looking to get into a strong academic content disciplines like medicine or engineering,” Mr Herbert explained during an interview at the school.

Braeburn Garden Estate was also the first of the Braeburn Group of Schools to offer the IB diploma programme, which is also available at Nairobi’s St Mary’s School and Aga Khan Academy.

“I wanted to do BTEC which is more practical, my mother wanted me to do a more technical course and we settled on IBCP because it combines the two,” explained Mr Ndung’u.

The course has exams for the core diploma units, while the rest are research and application based.

Braeburn’s move is in line with new global trends where vocational and career-based education is becoming a critical part of education.

Internationally, education systems are moving away from exams in favour of application-based and practical systems to prepare students for university education and the work environment.

Vocational study also makes it easier for students who already have a clear career path to take it from the onset rather than spend years and resources on general study before specialising in an area of one’s choice.

“I already know I want to go into business and IBCP just broadens it for me,” said Ms Maraite.

Diploma programme courses within the IBCP are assessed in accordance with rigorous international standards. Students take written examinations at the end of their courses, which are marked by external IB examiners.

Every student must complete the four elements of the IBCP core; the reflective project, community and service, approaches to learning, and language development. The reflective project is assessed by the school and moderated and graded by the IB.

“The students come up with their own community projects and how to finance them, they also go for internships as part of the coursework,” s aidMercy Gichuhi, IBCP co-ordinator at Braeburn.

The students are hosting a golfing tournament to raise funds for their latest project, upgrading community toilets in a public primary school in Baba Dogo

“You must be disciplined because you have deadlines to meet, manage your own time and papers,” said Ms Maraite.

The course, she added, improves public speaking due to the fact that some of the reports and assignments include presentation in front of the class.

The two- year course, which costs about Sh3.2 million, was first introduced globally in 2012 before the first intake took place in Kenya in September 2015.