UWC Dilijan celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The anniversary event will kick off Saturday at 19:00 (Armenia time). Live streaming will be available at the following link.
UWC Dilijan is one of the 18 colleges of the United World Colleges international network and the first college in the network located in the post-Soviet space.
UWC Dilijan was founded by philanthropists Ruben Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend, for whom education has always been of primary importance. The development of the educational sector is the most important vector in their charitable activities.
Their vision was to contribute to the development of Armenia as a world-class international educational and cultural center. Thanks to UWC Dilijan, Armenian children receive an international quality education, and foreigners studying in Dilijan become “ambassadors” of Armenia.
Facts and figures
During the 2014 academic year, the Dilijan International School of Armenia opened its doors for the first time to 94 students from 49 countries.
By 2024, ten years later, the school boasted 917 graduates from 120 countries, 98 percent of whom were accepted into the world’s top universities.
During these years, 160 Armenian boys and girls had the opportunity to receive quality education in UWC-network colleges and at UWC Dilijan. Ninety-eight percent of them studied free of charge, receiving scholarships from donors, including the Vardanyan family.
The cost of the construction of the College alone totaled around 200 million U.S. dollars, of which 180 million U.S dollars was invested by the Vardanyan family.
With the establishment of UWC Dilijan, 1,700 temporary and around 200 permanent jobs were created.
UWC Dilijan has had a significant impact on the development of this Armenian city. Dilijan quickly became a popular destination for parents and relatives of foreign students; as a result, the city adapted to this “new flow” of tourists. Gradually, new tourist and educational infrastructures have been created over the last decade.
Dilijan has been included in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
An effective partnership has been established between UWC Dilijan and the local community. Children from the Dilijan community visit and participate in activities organized by the school, and at the Community Center in the city, UWC Dilijan students organize free English lessons for both children and adults.
The College building, designed by famous architect Tim Flynn, has won several awards for its modern architecture, including:
- 2015 BREEAM certificate of an ecological construction standard
- 2015 GRA GREEN ROOF LEADERSHIP Award in the “Trend Setting Architecture” category
- 2015 EUROPEAN PROPERTY AWARD in the “Public Service Development” category
- 2016 FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Award in the “Public Infrastructure” category
- 2017 Build School Silver Award for superior build quality
“At some point, I realized that the future of humanity depends on education, that it will be the main element in the success of the world. If I believe that education is the future of the world, then it means that I should invest my time, effort, and money in education. And in this sense, this is not just charity; I am sure that this is the future that will bring change with it,” said Ruben Vardanyan years ago.
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