Students who choose to take Dutch A: Literature, SL, as SSST option within their IBDP package may want to opt for guidance from the IBID Foundation. The lessons are intended for Dutch students, living abroad and attending an accredited IB-diploma programme school. The IBID Foundation offers the so-called ‘emergency programme’ for students who have not been able, for several reasons, to take Dutch in the first IBDP year. The student then will follow an adapted and very intensive programme. It is possible to start this programme by the end of the first IB year, after the IB May-exams.

The IBID Foundation was established in June 2000, and is associated with the Stichting NOB. (Foundation for Dutch Education abroad). That was after Josephine Franken (founder and director of IBID) had already for years been tutoring students with their Dutch self-taught programme. The IBID teachers build a strong team. They all have a broad working experience as IB Dutch teachers in several IBO-schools worldwide. They have extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of the IB educational system and the position of Dutch as a subject in the IBDP curriculum. They are also aware of the IBO deadlines and know how hard it can be for students to do their Dutch as an online subject in combination with the other challenges of their IBDP-package.

The IBID Foundation will ensure care of a well-balanced programme in order to prepare the student for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Dutch A; Literature Standard Level exam. An IB-diploma with Dutch A: Literature guarantees in principle the admission to a Dutch university. We compose, when desirable in consultation with the student and the school, a list of ten literary works according to the IB syllabus guidelines. The other mandatory lesson materials will be provided as well, except for the books. Step by step, the student will be guided through the programme, i.e. the reading of books, learning to make literary analyses, writing the Written Assignment, preparing for the alternative oral examinations, acquiring skills to write essays and commentaries, practicing past papers.

Our guidance is intensive and personalized. Contact will mainly be maintained by e-mail, the sending and receiving of attachments is crucial. In average there will be a consultation every two weeks, but the frequency may vary depending upon the given assignment. We are exploring the advantages of Skype. It goes without saying that an optimized ‘electronic learning environment’ is essential.

At the beginning of the academic year (if possible even before) the IBID Foundation establishes contact with the school’s IBDP-coordinator and/or the SSST-coordinator. This contact will be maintained closely. The cooperation with the school enables the possibility of taking Dutch tests in school, ensuring that the IBO-paperwork is handled correctly, assisting the student as much as needed, to have consultations about the student’s progress and attitude, to provide grades etc.

The IBID Foundation appreciates to maintain contact with the parents and to be informed about special circumstances that might influence the following of lessons or submission of assignments. We prefer to send our mails to the students with a cc to (one of) the parents. This does not only help to prevent mails from getting lost, it also enables parents to keep on track as far as the progress of their son/daughter is concerned.

The IBID Foundation is one of the three organizations for online education associated with the NOB Foundation. We are not a ‘regular’ school. The director and the teachers live in several places around the world and there is some moving around every now and then, like this is the case with our students and their parents. Our address is in The Netherlands, as this is the country where Josephine Franken, director/teacher, lives. The other teachers live in Switzerland, Scotland, Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Dubai and France. The members of the Board of the IBID Foundation are all based in The Netherlands.

• Every IBDP-student must choose a mother tongue, a ‘Language A’ in IBO-terminology. There are two Group 1 Language A programmes: ‘Language A: Literature’ and ‘Language A: Language and Literature’. The self-taught option is only available for Dutch A: Literature SL
• Universities in The Netherlands consider Dutch A: Literature (they don’t make a distinction between HL and SL) as sufficient proof for the language skills of a future student
• The student’s official IB-Diploma will contain a special note mentioning that the student is bilingual, a valuable mention.

When no teacher of the Dutch language is available, or an external teacher is unable to see the student on a frequent and regular basis, a student can be registered as a Dutch A: Literature Standard Level, SSST student. The IBO does not allow the self-taught option if more than five candidates register for that particular language per year. In that case the school will have to provide a teacher. The self-taught option is, again, only available at Standard Level.

• IBO-schools have to appoint a tutor for the ‘school supported self-taught programme’. The school’s support for the self-taught students is sometimes restricted to the handling of the necessary IBO-documents and requirements. In many cases however, schools take well care of their SSST-students; free blocks are scheduled, and there is a SSST-coordinator. Nevertheless, the students do need help from a tutor of their own language. Dutch self-taught students may benefit very much from the intensive tutoring that IBID offers.
• The results of the IBID students have been qualified as ‘good’ by the Dutch Inspectorate (Ministry of Education). This is the highest rating possible. The average score of our students at least equals, or is even higher than the average score for Dutch A SL worldwide. This certainly is related to our extensive experience with the self-taught programme and the fact that our teachers are highly qualified and IB-minded. We update our programme every academic year, and we have established excellent collaboration with many IBO-schools around the world. Choosing for IBID means choosing for quality and personal care
• Detailed information about the quality of IBID’s work is to be found in the ‘PKO-rapport’ from the Dutch Inspectorate for Education (see links). Unfortunately, this document has only been published in Dutch. Below you will find some quotes from contact persons from several IBO-schools:

“When students need to study their Mother Tongue as an IB supported self taught language, we always hope that we can find a tutor who will be able to assist them. For all our Dutch A1 students we have been very happy with the professionalism and knowledge IBID possess. The instructors have been very good and I would rate IBID as the best service that I have used in providing IB Supported Self Taught language over the internet.”
Gary Piech
IB Coordinator
International School of Kuala Lumpur

“As an IB School we are really pleased and satisfied working with the IBID Foundation since they know the IB and its requirements. In addition to that the communication of the teacher with the school at that time was very efficient for the application of the IB procedures.”
Feray Özdemir, IB DP Coordinator
Bilkent University Preparatory School
Ankara, Turkey

“I wish all my Self-Taught students had access to a program like this! The students in the program receive excellent support and preparation, and as DP Coordinator, I also appreciate the regular and helpful feedback on the students’ progress.”
Michael Chao, IB DP Coordinator
Shanghai American School, Pudong Campus

The fee for the academic year 2012-2013 is as follows:

€2300,00 for the first academic year
€2300,00 for the second academic year
€3500,00 two years in one (‘emergency  programme’)

The costs for books at the beginning of the first year will be about €200,00 (less if you are already in the possession of some of the books). IBID will send a folder with lesson material, there are no charges for this.
Restitution (pro rata) of the school fee is only possible in principle when a student is withdrawn from IB-education.
The IBID Foundation is associated with the ‘Stichting NOB’ (Foundation for Dutch education abroad), and students are in principle eligible for subsidy. The fee is partly based upon the subsidy allowance. In case a student is not eligible for subsidy, the IBID Foundation will give notice to the parents and they may expect a retrospective bill.

There is only a Dutch version of the application form available on this website. After the sending of an application form, there will be an extensive procedure where the director of IBID contacts the parents, the school and the student in order to research the viability of the student taking Dutch A: Literature SL as a self-taught option. We will take a critical look at the subjects chosen for the full IB-package, and we especially try to avoid any possible clashes or problems with other languages. It is important to realize at this stage that Dutch is no longer an extra-curricular subject. Furthermore, there will be no more ‘language teaching’ as such, language will only be used as a tool to develop literary skills at a very advanced level. Therefore it is of great importance for a student to have excellent verbal and writing skills; Dutch must be the student’s mother tongue.

We set out to have a personal meeting between a student and the IBID-teacher before the start of the lessons. Usually this is possible during summer break in The Netherlands. In any case, we will ensure a proper introduction between student and teacher, as well as with the parents and the contact person in school.

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