There has been a global trend away from force-feeding knowledge to students and then expecting them to regurgitate it on standardised exams. The new direction is towards inquiry-based learning and problem solving, and wider use of the International Baccalaureate (IB), which offers three programmes for students aged three to 19, reflects this. Originally targeted at international schools around the world in a bid to offer a consistent global yardstick against which universities could evaluate potential students, IB has been gaining favour in state-funded schools in the United States and Canada in recent years. It is also being widely adopted by international schools in Hong Kong. The Primary Years Programme focuses on 'whole child' development for children aged three to 12. A total of 21 schools in Hong Kong offer this curriculum, according to the IB. The Middle Years Programme offers a curriculum that combines life skills with academic content in a way that 'embraces and transcends' traditional school subjects. Five schools in Hong Kong - including the Chinese International School, the Creative Secondary School, Renaissance College, the Independent Schools Academy, and Victoria Shanghai Academy - offer this course of study for students aged 11 to 16. The two-year Diploma Programme is offered by 18 schools for students aged 16 to 19 and leads to a qualification recognised by leading universities around the world. It is also accepted in Hong Kong by the Chinese University, City University, Baptist University, Lingnan University, Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of Hong Kong. 'The International Baccalaureate is the most powerful secondary qualification that a student can have for getting into university,' says Dr Gary Morrison, assistant director for the Yew Chung Education Foundation. 'The number of students getting accepted into university is much higher than for any other qualification. The IB is a very challenging and difficult programme. It is more like the beginning of university.' The English Schools Foundation (ESF) has traditionally followed the National Curriculum of England and Wales, with some adaptation to make it appropriate to Hong Kong. Standardised assessments were carried out from Year One to measure progress. They were also thought to add a degree of objectivity to the equation. But as schools move towards a more inquiry-based approach, the ESF is starting to adopt the baccalaureate. Most ESF primary schools have adopted IB's Primary Years Programme in recent years. At the secondary level, the National Curriculum of England and Wales continues to be followed in Years Seven through Nine at most institutions, with students taking GCSE or IGCSE courses. After the age of 16, however, the majority of students follow the IB Diploma programme. Two newly launched ESF institutions, however, are taking a 'through train' approach by phasing in another stage of the IB each year. Renaissance College in Ma On Shan, which opened five years ago, follows IB from Years One to 13. Discovery College, which opened in 2007 on Lantau, will eventually offer a through train from years One to 13, as well. 'The IB is the platinum level of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment,' says Dr Harry Brown, principal, Renaissance College. 'It is an inquiry-based curriculum. It is truly interdisciplinary. It focuses more on skills development than content.' Following the traditional academic model - which is still the norm at many Anglo-Chinese schools - dozens of students sit quietly in the classroom taking notes while the teacher lectures. They are then tested on what they have been taught. The new trend is for students to use the data that they are taught in class to solve real-life problems. 'Instead of just having to know things, they have to be able to apply what they know,' Brown says. 'There is less emphasis on the mastery of basic content and more on how to apply the knowledge that they acquire to solving problems.'