UWC Dilijan marks 10th anniversary, with founder absent, in Azerbaijani prison
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ArmInfo. Dilijan International School (UWC Dilijan) is celebrating its tenth anniversary without its founder, philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, who is currently being held hostage in a Baku prison.
The idea of creating a school in Armenia came to Ruben Vardanyan and his wife Veronika Zonabend back in 2006. It was supported by more than 300 benefactors from different countries, and in 2014 UWC Dilijan opened its doors, becoming the 14th UWC college. Its campus was built with private funds, of which 180 million US dollars are funds from the family of Ruben and Veronika.
It is no coincidence that the school was built in the city of Dilijan, because this place was once one of the stops on the Great Silk Road. Armenia has long been a place where different civilizations meet: European, Russian, Ottoman and Persian, and therefore the school embodies the idea of friendship between different nations. The mission of the school is to achieve a more peaceful, just, socially and environmentally responsible world order through a comprehensive education based on the highest academic standards and deep intercultural understanding.
In connection with the anniversary, an ArmInfo correspondent visited the prestigious school and personally got acquainted with the conditions of the educational institution, the purpose of which is to stimulate education in Armenia.
Director of UWC Dilijan College Adam Armansky in an interview with journalists recalled that the school was founded by Vardanyan and Zonabend ten years ago with the aim of turning Armenia into a center of international education and popularizing the country in the international arena.
When asked by ArmInfo whether the illegal arrest of Ruben Vardanyan by the Azerbaijani side last September while attempting to cross the Lachin Corridor had affected the school's activities, Armanski admitted that UWC Dilijan and the Dilijan community were shocked by the news. "We at the school, and the community as a whole, were shocked by this news.
This is obvious, since Vardanyan is the founder of UWC Dilijan. But I can say that the arrest did not affect the school's activities as a whole, since Vardanyan and his team laid a solid foundation for our activities and we are working as usual," said the director of the international school, adding that the most serious challenges over these 10 years of activity were the coronavirus pandemic and the war around Artsakh. Dilijan International School, having opened its doors to 94 students from 49 countries in 2014, became one of 18 schools of the international network of United World Colleges and the first school of the UWC network in the post-Soviet space and the Middle East. Ten years later, this year the school has 927 graduates from 125 countries, and 98% of graduates entered the best universities in the world. And there are even cases when a student, after completing school in Dilijan, received higher education in another country and returned to Armenia as a teacher or a specialist in a specific field.
The school provides an opportunity to get an education not only to foreigners, but also to our compatriots from Armenia and Artsakh. To date, 160 young people have had the opportunity to receive a quality education at the Dilijan School and other schools in the network and enter prestigious universities. Moreover, many studied for free, at the expense of scholarships provided by the school's trustees, including the Vardanyan family.
During a visit to the school, first- and second-year students of the school Ornella Zurabyan from Russia and Anna McCartney from the USA showed the ArmInfo correspondent the school and told why they chose UWC Dilijan.
According to Ornella, entering the school was her cherished dream, and she was able to overcome the competition only on her second attempt. "I submitted my application through the National Committee of Russia, which does not allow you to choose which college you want to enter. However, it is possible to indicate your priority on the list. And naturally, I did not hesitate to choose the Dilijan school, and I had several reasons for this. Firstly, I really wanted to spend these two years in my historical homeland, to get to know it better. Plus, UWC Dilijan is one of the newest schools in the system and has the largest campus, not to mention the attitude towards students," said first-year Ornella, adding that she uses a partial scholarship to study at the school.
Anna, who has been at the Dilijan school for the second year, noted that she put Armenia first in the ranking because she knew very little about it and wanted to expand her knowledge. "For me, Armenia was an opportunity to discover something new. It is not often that foreign students choose Armenia to study," Anna shared. When asked to share her impressions of Armenia, Anna noted that she really likes it on Armenian soil. According to her, everything here is very different from what it is in the United States. "I really liked your country, culture, people. There are many Armenian students in our school, and their patriotism is very impressive. I love your food. I would like to take it with me when I leave, but you can't take everything with you," the school student noted with humor. According to her, when she is in Yerevan, she always buys souvenirs with images of Armenia in order to preserve vivid impressions of the country after leaving. When asked whether she would ever like to return to Armenia, Anna noted that she intends to seek a career in the field of human rights protection in the future, and it is possible that she will return here due to the nature of her work.
The school students also shared interesting traditions of their educational institution. According to them, their campus is divided into two parts - North and South, and the residential houses on one side are named after the rivers flowing through Armenia, and on the other - after the mountains. Moreover, if there are students from conflicting countries in the school, they are always accommodated in the same room, thus promoting the establishment of contacts and reconciliation. Over the past ten years of its existence, Dilijan School has allowed 387 students to receive an education with a 100% discount, another 613 students with a partial discount, and 153 paid the full cost of two years of study. This year, 68 students will take advantage of the 100% discount, another 104 will receive a partial discount, and 52 will pay the full discount. In total, 224 students from 80 countries will be studying at the school in the 2024-25 academic year, including 18 from Armenia and 6 from Artsakh. In total, $37,407,801.50 has been allocated for scholarships over 10 years of operation, with $6,541,740 going to provide scholarships to Armenian students.
With the establishment of UWC Dilijan, 1,700 temporary and almost 300 permanent jobs were created. The school has also had a great impact on the development of the city, including in terms of creating new infrastructure - both tourism and educational. In addition, fruitful cooperation has been formed between the school and the city community. Children of the community participate in the events held by UWC Dilijan, and also benefit from the opportunity to study free of charge in English courses. Dilijan is included in the list of UNESCO educational cities. The UWC Dilijan campus was designed by the famous British architect Tim Flynn. The ultra-modern architecture of the school has brought Armenia a number of awards, in particular: BREEAM 2015 green building standard certificate; 2015 GRAY GREEN ROOF LEADERSHIP award in the Trend Setting Architecture nomination; 2015 EUROPEAN PROPERTY AWARD in the Public Service Development nomination; the 2016 FIABCI World Prize for Excellence in Public Infrastructure and the 2017 Build School Silver Award for construction excellence.
The idea of creating a school in Armenia came to Ruben Vardanyan and his wife Veronika Zonabend back in 2006. It was supported by more than 300 benefactors from different countries, and in 2014 UWC Dilijan opened its doors, becoming the 14th UWC college. Its campus was built with private funds, of which 180 million US dollars are funds from the family of Ruben and Veronika.
It is no coincidence that the school was built in the city of Dilijan, because this place was once one of the stops on the Great Silk Road. Armenia has long been a place where different civilizations meet: European, Russian, Ottoman and Persian, and therefore the school embodies the idea of friendship between different nations. The mission of the school is to achieve a more peaceful, just, socially and environmentally responsible world order through a comprehensive education based on the highest academic standards and deep intercultural understanding.
In connection with the anniversary, an ArmInfo correspondent visited the prestigious school and personally got acquainted with the conditions of the educational institution, the purpose of which is to stimulate education in Armenia.
Director of UWC Dilijan College Adam Armansky in an interview with journalists recalled that the school was founded by Vardanyan and Zonabend ten years ago with the aim of turning Armenia into a center of international education and popularizing the country in the international arena.
When asked by ArmInfo whether the illegal arrest of Ruben Vardanyan by the Azerbaijani side last September while attempting to cross the Lachin Corridor had affected the school's activities, Armanski admitted that UWC Dilijan and the Dilijan community were shocked by the news. "We at the school, and the community as a whole, were shocked by this news.
This is obvious, since Vardanyan is the founder of UWC Dilijan. But I can say that the arrest did not affect the school's activities as a whole, since Vardanyan and his team laid a solid foundation for our activities and we are working as usual," said the director of the international school, adding that the most serious challenges over these 10 years of activity were the coronavirus pandemic and the war around Artsakh. Dilijan International School, having opened its doors to 94 students from 49 countries in 2014, became one of 18 schools of the international network of United World Colleges and the first school of the UWC network in the post-Soviet space and the Middle East. Ten years later, this year the school has 927 graduates from 125 countries, and 98% of graduates entered the best universities in the world. And there are even cases when a student, after completing school in Dilijan, received higher education in another country and returned to Armenia as a teacher or a specialist in a specific field.
The school provides an opportunity to get an education not only to foreigners, but also to our compatriots from Armenia and Artsakh. To date, 160 young people have had the opportunity to receive a quality education at the Dilijan School and other schools in the network and enter prestigious universities. Moreover, many studied for free, at the expense of scholarships provided by the school's trustees, including the Vardanyan family.
During a visit to the school, first- and second-year students of the school Ornella Zurabyan from Russia and Anna McCartney from the USA showed the ArmInfo correspondent the school and told why they chose UWC Dilijan.
According to Ornella, entering the school was her cherished dream, and she was able to overcome the competition only on her second attempt. "I submitted my application through the National Committee of Russia, which does not allow you to choose which college you want to enter. However, it is possible to indicate your priority on the list. And naturally, I did not hesitate to choose the Dilijan school, and I had several reasons for this. Firstly, I really wanted to spend these two years in my historical homeland, to get to know it better. Plus, UWC Dilijan is one of the newest schools in the system and has the largest campus, not to mention the attitude towards students," said first-year Ornella, adding that she uses a partial scholarship to study at the school.
Anna, who has been at the Dilijan school for the second year, noted that she put Armenia first in the ranking because she knew very little about it and wanted to expand her knowledge. "For me, Armenia was an opportunity to discover something new. It is not often that foreign students choose Armenia to study," Anna shared. When asked to share her impressions of Armenia, Anna noted that she really likes it on Armenian soil. According to her, everything here is very different from what it is in the United States. "I really liked your country, culture, people. There are many Armenian students in our school, and their patriotism is very impressive. I love your food. I would like to take it with me when I leave, but you can't take everything with you," the school student noted with humor. According to her, when she is in Yerevan, she always buys souvenirs with images of Armenia in order to preserve vivid impressions of the country after leaving. When asked whether she would ever like to return to Armenia, Anna noted that she intends to seek a career in the field of human rights protection in the future, and it is possible that she will return here due to the nature of her work.
The school students also shared interesting traditions of their educational institution. According to them, their campus is divided into two parts - North and South, and the residential houses on one side are named after the rivers flowing through Armenia, and on the other - after the mountains. Moreover, if there are students from conflicting countries in the school, they are always accommodated in the same room, thus promoting the establishment of contacts and reconciliation. Over the past ten years of its existence, Dilijan School has allowed 387 students to receive an education with a 100% discount, another 613 students with a partial discount, and 153 paid the full cost of two years of study. This year, 68 students will take advantage of the 100% discount, another 104 will receive a partial discount, and 52 will pay the full discount. In total, 224 students from 80 countries will be studying at the school in the 2024-25 academic year, including 18 from Armenia and 6 from Artsakh. In total, $37,407,801.50 has been allocated for scholarships over 10 years of operation, with $6,541,740 going to provide scholarships to Armenian students.
With the establishment of UWC Dilijan, 1,700 temporary and almost 300 permanent jobs were created. The school has also had a great impact on the development of the city, including in terms of creating new infrastructure - both tourism and educational. In addition, fruitful cooperation has been formed between the school and the city community. Children of the community participate in the events held by UWC Dilijan, and also benefit from the opportunity to study free of charge in English courses. Dilijan is included in the list of UNESCO educational cities. The UWC Dilijan campus was designed by the famous British architect Tim Flynn. The ultra-modern architecture of the school has brought Armenia a number of awards, in particular: BREEAM 2015 green building standard certificate; 2015 GRAY GREEN ROOF LEADERSHIP award in the Trend Setting Architecture nomination; 2015 EUROPEAN PROPERTY AWARD in the Public Service Development nomination; the 2016 FIABCI World Prize for Excellence in Public Infrastructure and the 2017 Build School Silver Award for construction excellence.