| UWC | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Canada Hong Kong India Italy Norway Singapore Swaziland The United States Venezuela The United Kingdom Costa Rica Bosnia and Herzegovina Netherlands |
|
| Information | |
| Type | School, colleges and short programmes |
| Established | 1962 |
| Founder | Kurt Hahn |
| Affiliation | Round Square |
| Information | Presidency Lord Mountbatten Prince Charles Queen Noor of Jordan Nelson Mandela |
| Website | http://www.uwc.org/ |
UWC (United World Colleges) is an education movement comprising thirteen international schools and colleges, national committees in over 130 countries and a series of short educational programmes. The UWC movement aims to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Students are selected from around the globe based on their merit and potential. UWC schools, colleges and national committees offer a broad array of scholarship and bursary schemes as well as accepting fee-paying students.
The UWC international organisation is a British based foundation and has thirteen schools and colleges in Canada, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Swaziland, the United States, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and, as of September 2009, a newly opened school in Maastricht, the Netherlands; national committees in more than 130 countries; a portfolio of short programmes running in numerous countries; a network of more than 40,000 alumni from more than 181 countries,[1] and an International Office in London. 9 UWC colleges teach the International Baccalaureate, with 3 schools in Singapore, the Netherlands and Swaziland which, on top of the IB, also teach a pre-16 syllabus to younger students. The vocational college in Venezuela accepts students at tertiary level and teaches a Higher Diploma in Farm Administration. Each UWC typically comprises between 200 and 300 students from about 90 different countries. The national committee of Spain (UWC España) will be opening a new college in 2013 whilst proposals for new colleges in China and Germany are also being explored.
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"There is more in you than you think"
The first UWC college, the United World College of the Atlantic, located in a 12th Century castle set in 90 hectares of grounds in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales, United Kingdom was founded in 1962 with the initiative of Kurt Hahn, a renowned German educationalist who had previously founded Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, Gordonstoun in Scotland, and the Outward Bound movement; the castle was gifted to UWC by Antonin Besse II, the son of Sir Antonin Besse. Kurt Hahn's vision was based on his post-war experience at the NATO Defence College, where he had observed discussion and collaboration between former enemies. He wanted to transmit a spirit of mutual understanding to young people to help them overcome prejudice and antagonism through living and working together.
Hahn envisaged a college educating boys and girls of age 16 to 20, from different origins. The selection would be based on personal motivation and potential, regardless of any social, economic or cultural factors. A scholarship programme would facilitate recruitment of young people from different economic backgrounds.[2] The project was realised in 1962 with the inauguration of Atlantic College in Wales.
Since 1967, under the presidency of Lord Mountbatten, new Colleges were founded in order to give more people access to the UWC system. In 1971 the United World College of South East Asia was established in Singapore, followed by the UWC of the Pacific (now Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific) in Canada in 1974. Under the presidency of Prince Charles, four more UWCs were inaugurated: 1981 in Swaziland, 1982 in Italy and in the United States and 1988 in Venezuela. The rhythm accelerated with the foundation of three Colleges within five years: 1992 in Hong Kong, 1995 in Norway and 1997 in India, thus raising the number of Colleges to ten. The eleventh and the twelfth Colleges in Costa Rica and Bosnia & Herzegovina were opened in 2006. The thirteenth College opened in September 2009 in Maastricht, Netherlands. A fourteenth college, UWC España, has received preliminary approval for opening in September 2013 in Cantabria, Spain.[3]
The threat of an international conflict decreased with the end of the Cold War, but regional and inter-ethnic conflicts have since then increased. UWC has been attempting to establish links between individuals of different ideologies and perspectives. Its mission is to answer Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lester B. Pearson's interrogation: "How can there be peace without people understanding each other; and how can this be if they don't know each other?"
Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan has been President of UWC since 1995. Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been the honorary president of UWC since 1999.
| This article is part of a series on the International Baccalaureate |
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All UWC schools and colleges offer two years of pre-university education (with the exception of the Simón Bolívar United World College of Agriculture in Venezuela which offers an agricultural diploma). After these two years UWC alumni are holders of the International Baccalaureate Diploma, a prestigious high school diploma recognised worldwide. The International Baccalaureate has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and three administrative offices in New York City, Buenos Aires and Singapore. The Examinations Office is in Cardiff, United Kingdom, in part due to the influence of nearby United World College of the Atlantic in its early development. The three working languages of the International Baccalaureate are English, French and Spanish. Eleven of the thirteen UWC schools and colleges use English as the main language of teaching and communication. Lester B. Pearson College in Canada teaches certain subjects in French and Spanish while the UWC of the Adriatic in Italy and the Red Cross Nordic UWC in Norway require that all students study Italian and Norwegian respectively in order to facilitate their relationship with the local populations. The teaching in the Simón Bolívar United World College of Agriculture in Venezuela is in Spanish, with English language classes. That college is for slightly older students and offers a diploma in agricultural administration. United World College of Costa Rica is the first College which offers a bilingual IB Diploma in Spanish or English language. Previous knowledge of the language is not necessarily needed.
UWC students are eligible, after graduation, to participate in the Shelby Davis Scholarship programme, which funds undergraduate study (based on need) for UWC students at 91 universities in the United States.[4]
The CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) programme – one of the requirements of the IB Diploma – is an integral part of UWC system. At most UWC schools and colleges, CAS is merely a part of routine college life. It is because of this fact that UWC students significantly exceed the amount CAS hours required by the IBO to obtain an IB Diploma. In fact, CAS and indeed the IB programme itself have their roots in the United World College of the Atlantic. During the creation of the IB programme, the daily academic and social lives of students at Atlantic College were taken as examples. UWC schools and colleges take pride in the fact that they are not involved with the CAS programme because it's a requirement of the IB. On the contrary, the IB requires CAS because CAS was an integral part of life at UWC schools and colleges.
Among those activities particular to UWC schools and colleges are the Coral Monitoring Service at Li Po Chun United World College and the partnership between the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and United World College of the Atlantic. At Mahindra United World College of India students fight fires (Fire service) in order to protect the schools biodiversity reserve . At the United World College in Mostar the CAS Program contributes to the restoration of the divided post-conflict Mostar society.
"UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future."
UWC believes that to achieve peace and a sustainable future, the values it promotes are crucial[5]:
Entry into a UWC school or college is based on a students' commitment to UWC values and how suited they are to champion UWC's mission. Many UWC students are awarded scholarships directly from the school or college or through the national committee system. UWC national committees are located in nearly 130 countries, some are run completely by volunteers, others have staff.
Applicants for UWC scholarships are interviewed by national committees, all of which have a slightly different system but are unified by the UWC mission and values. In Egypt, for example, the places are offered on the basis of a system of national competitions and specialised interviews, whereas in the Brazil, Argentina, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy shortlisted applicants attend a two-day residential with an interview, various games and debates. In Hong Kong, suitable applicants will be invited to attend a day-camp named "Challenge Day" where they will be engaged in different activities e.g. debate, learning a new language, group games etc. Shortlisted applicants will then be invited to attend a final interview before gaining admission.