The BC Offshore Program

The BC Off-Shore Program is an educational program, not a brick and mortar building, that is offered by 2 groups - first it is usually offered by a group of private citizens - from either Canada or from another country - most commonly Chinese owners in China but this group is growing and diversifying. Usually it is this group that initiates discussions.

The second group is the Ministry of Education (MOE) in BC, Canada. The MOE sanctions the program through a complex process - it also verifies its offerings in a formal way with the local and national governments of the host country (ie: BC MOE/Beijing/China letters of mutual understanding). These letters from the local and national governments to the BC MOE and the School Authority allow the school to operate and allows the host school in that country to provide an alternate educational program and supports that program. This is of prime importance in the set-up process.

The MOE in BC ensures that certain things are done and processes are put into place to their standards and that the people involved are from BC, are BC certified staff and represent the owners, the MOE and the students with a degree of credibility. The certification of staff is very important to the success of the program and as such BC MOE has a very complex process to ensure teachers and administrators are qualified and certified. You can access more information regarding this from the MOE web-site - www.bced.gov.bc.ca/offshore_schools

The Ministry has 28 items in an agreement that the school owners (the school authority) agree to before the MOE approves the start and the advertisement of the program. You can access these from the Off Shore Web site, but in short they include English 10-12, math and socials 10-11, science 10-12, PE 10, a foreign language 10-11, Planning 10 and the university transfer requirements such as senior level courses that lead to entrance in specific university or college faculties.

The off-shore program provides for the teaching of the BC Graduation Program and all of its courses that lead to the earning of a Dogwood Diploma at the end of the three years. The graduates will have taken the same core courses that all graduates from the BC program take - the real only real significant difference is that in the off shore program the students might take all their courses in Beijing, China, Abu Dhabi, UAE or Moga, India.

The students usually start in grade 10 but it is possible for them to start in Kindergarten or at almost any other grade level. Usually this is determined by the local school jurisdiction and the parents ability to pay a tuition fee for that long.

The students may have to take one or more ESL courses but that is determined through a language acquisition process. Students take all the courses and must complete the number of credits required for Graduation. Specific requirements are obtainable at the MOE Web-Site.

Instruction is in English and the courses must be instructed by a certified BC teacher. The school must have a Principal and the School Authority must have a BC Agent. The agent represents both groups - the MOE and the School Authority. The agent works with both groups and the school administration to ensure that all the requirements of the Off Shore Agreement are met.

The MOE has a process for approving selected schools. They work with the owners and the agent to gather and evaluate information. This task is to ensure success further down the road. Once a selected school has been in operation for a time the MOE will send a team into the school's Off Shore Program to evaluate it and how it has complied with the 28 requirements of the off shore program and how well it is delivering the curriculum. Once an off shore program has been approved for candidacy it goes through another and annual certification inspection. These are usually held in the late fall.

The MOE works with the school, the school authority and the agent to ensure that a quality program is provided and that students have a reasonable amount of success - expecting that students will work hard and that all students have an opportunity to be successful.