The International Baccalaureate (IB), a leading global provider of international education for students aged 3 to 19, has set up three global centres in The Hague, Maryland (USA) and Singapore as part of their strategy to sustain ongoing double digit growth, to increase access, to attract highly qualified and motivated international staff and to strengthen ties with the more than 3.000 IB World Schools across 139 countries.

The transition to three global centres began in the second half of 2009 and is expected to be complete by the end of 2012. The headquarters remains in Geneva, Switzerland.

Following a period of comprehensive and detailed analysis of possible sites, the Board agreed to set up a global centre in The Hague which was, after careful consideration, considered to be the best fit for the future needs of the IB.

When the move is complete, the new global centre in The Hague will be home to a number of the IB’s global departments such as Academic Development and Assessment, Communications, Language Services and Human Resources and house close to 250 employees.

With an expected worldwide community of 10.000 schools by the year 2020, the International Baccalaureate is expecting to recruit for close to 60 positions in The Hague in 2011 and a further 110 over the following 2 years, many of them in academic fields such as curriculum development, assessment and regional schools services.

The regional office for Africa, Europe, Middle East will also be located within the global centre and will provide services to over 800 IB World Schools in the region. "The IB continues to experience strong growth as more schools recognise its value in meeting the educational needs of the world in the 21st century. The relocation to The Hague is an important step in enabling us to have the capability to meet this demand now and in the future," said Adrian Kearney, Regional Director.

The IB has long enjoyed a close relationship with The Netherlands, and there are already 17 IB World Schools offering one or more of the three IB programmes. Senior officials at the IB acknowledge the role that the Netherlands has played in recognising the importance of an international curriculum, and the importance of learning languages through subsidised bilingual schools and native language programmes outside the Netherlands.