UWC Dilijan marks 10th anniversary, with founder absent, in   Azerbaijani prison 

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.