UWC Movement
One of eighteen United World Colleges (UWC) around the world, UWC Dilijan is a member of the UWC movement with a mission to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.
UWC was founded in 1962 with the vision of bringing together young people whose experience was of the political conflict of the Cold War era. By offering an educational experience based on shared learning, collaboration and understanding it was intended that the students would act as champions of peace. This is how UWC developed.
1962UWC Atlantic College opens in South Wales and was hailed by The Times as "the most exciting experiment in education since the Second World War."
1967Lord Mountbatten becomes President of the organisation and the movement became 'United World Colleges'.
1971The Singapore International School officially opens as an associate member of UWC.
1970sIncreasing numbers of national committees established to promote UWC within their own countries and to select students for the colleges and schools.
1974 Pearson College UWC opens. Lester B Pearson, former Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate had been the inspiration behind the founding of the college.
1978HRH The Prince of Wales becomes president of UWC.
1975The Singapore International School becomes a full member of the UWC movement and was officially renamed UWC South East Asia.
1981Waterford Kamhlaba School in Swaziland, founded in 1963 as a multi-racial school in opposition to South Africa's apartheid policies, became Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa.
1982 UWC-USA in New Mexico, USA and UWC Adriatic, near Trieste in Italy both open.
1988HRH the Prince of Wales and agronomist Dr Luis Marcano Coello play a key role in the establishment of a College in Venezuela, Simón Bolívar UWC of Agriculture.
1990sDevelopment of UWC short courses as a means of providing further opportunities for young people to share the UWC experience.
1992 Li Po Chun UWC of Hong Kong opens.
1995HM Queen Noor of Jordan and Nelson Mandela become joint presidents. UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway opens, a joint venture with the Red Cross/Red Crescent organisation and the eight Nordic governments.
1997 UWC Mahindra College in Pune, India, opens.
1999Nelson Mandela becomes honorary president of UWC.
2006 UWC Costa Rica, formerly the Costa Rica SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College joins UWC and UWC in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina opens.
2009 UWC Maastricht joins UWC, merging two existing international schools, International School Maastricht, and the International Primary School Joppenhof.
2012Simón Bolívar UWC of Agriculture closes following actions taken by the Venezuelan government which resulted in the college becoming a public university. More information on Simón Bolívar UWC.
2014 UWC Dilijan in Armenia and UWC Robert Bosch College in Germany join the movement opening their doors to their first students in August 2014.
2015 UWC Changshu China opens in 2015.
2016UWC Thailand joined the UWC movement.
2017UWC ISAK Japan officially joined the family.
2019 UWC East Africa became the second UWC on the African continent. It was originally established as International School Moshi in 1969 with a second campus opened in Arusha in 1987.