Education, Religion and Sports Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis on Monday visited the headquarters of the International Baccalaureate-ΙΒ Foundation in Geneva in order to discuss the introduction of an IB diploma programme in the Greek state education system with its director-general, Olli-Pekka Heinonen, and members of the organisation.
Pierrakakis, speaking to Athens-Macedonian News Agency, stated that “with the introduction of the International Baccalaureate, the Ministry of Education gives one more option – one more option to applicants for admission to higher education, without removing the possibility of admission to a department of higher education through the classic system of national examinations. We turn into action the commitment that we made a year ago – to maximise educational opportunities in our country and to accelerate to the maximum the changes that will result in the best possible education being provided to our young people.”
As the minister underlined, “the introduction of the IB can only have a positive impact, while the trust of the international organisation for the introduction of the programme in our schools is another confirmation that we are on the right path and we will continue in this direction.”
It should be noted that, until now, IB diploma courses and examinations in Greece were exclusively provided by private schools.
According to education ministry sources, the pilot application of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in five model high schools in Athens and Thessaloniki will begin in September 2026, with the aim of its expansion in the following years to all model high schools in Greece
The same sources said that the “IB is not simple, on the contrary, it is a different and demanding – according to many – programme of studies, with a different approach to education compared to the one we are used to in our country. It is a programme that prioritises critical and combinatorial thinking, while cultivating creative writing, research and analytical skills, and teaching is conducted exclusively in the English language,” they said.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
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