The International Baccalaureate (IB) has acquired Generation Global, the Tony Blair Institute’s (TBI) global citizenship education programme.
The IB says the acquisition will improve intercultural understanding and student agency, as well as helping young students to connect with “the local and global issues they care about most”.
For TBI, the move is expected to help Generation Global to expand its work in “affording millions of young people within and outside the IB network the opportunity to further develop key competencies for life and work, such as critical thinking and global communication”.
The acquisition builds on the IB and TBI’s existing two-year partnership and a “shared mission” to help young people gain the “skills, knowledge and attitudes to become open-minded global learners”.
The IB and TBI will aim to work together to help “education ministries worldwide in furthering their education goals”.
The IB currently engages with more than 2 million students in over 6,000 schools, across more than 160 countries. Generation Global has reached around 600,000 young people and trained over 15,000 educators in more than 50 countries.
‘Significant opportunity’ for the IB
Olli-Pekka Heinonen, director-general of the IB, said: “The acquisition presents a significant opportunity for the IB to broaden the reach of our education philosophy to a diverse global student body.”
He added that the IB’s work with Generation Global will help students to “apply their creativity, strengthen their intercultural understanding and address global issues, while contributing to their local communities”.
Tony Blair, executive chairman of the TBI and a former UK prime minister, said: “I am incredibly proud of Generation Global, which over the years has provided a safe space for young people to come together, reaching across communities, cultures and countries to embrace difference, think critically and engage with peers around the world.
“The International Baccalaureate, the centre of educational excellence, will be a perfect home to ensure that this important work of Generation Global will continue to thrive and reach its full potential.”
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
