November 25, 2024 

Vancouver B.C. – On Monday, November 25, 2024, at a public Board meeting, the Vancouver School Board (VSB) voted to discontinue the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP) beginning June 27, 2025, and directed staff to develop a closure plan. The program is currently offered at Elsie Roy Elementary, Lord Roberts Elementary and King George Secondary for students from grades 6-10. 

Currently, MYP is not in compliance with IB requirements. An evaluation report from IB World identified several areas where significant investments in resources, staff training and program development are required to bring the program into compliance with IB standards. This includes an immediate investment of up to $286,000 and ongoing annual funding of at least $246,000 in each of the next three years.  

The BC curriculum was redesigned in 2016, which now aligns more closely with the principles and philosophy of MYP. As a result, there is considerable overlap between the goals and teaching methodologies of MYP and the BC curriculum, reducing the distinctiveness that the program once offered.

Before the Board made its decision, staff gathered feedback from rights holders, formal stakeholder groups, MYP educators, MYP students, their families as well as future MYP families. Feedback showed the majority of rights holders, stakeholder groups and MYP educators were in favour of discontinuing the program. They cited teacher recruitment and retention challenges, overlap of BC and MYP curricula, high costs to maintain the program and concerns around equity of educational access for students with disabilities and diverse abilities. Most feedback from students pointed to a lack of understanding about MYP. A significant number of families who participated in the engagement process were in support of maintaining MYP. They generally valued MYP’s perceived academic rigour, international recognition and emphasis on skill development. For the full report, see the engagement findings report. 

Following the Board’s decision, District staff will inform school staff and families in the affected school communities by November 26, 2024. 

For more information watch the meeting’s recording, view the agenda and visit govsb.ca/myp. 

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