In an official ceremony, scholarship awards were received by Mikus Villerušs from Cēsis State Gymnasium, Darja Ožigina from the Maksima Gymnasium in Riga and Līva Araka from Riga First Language School, who had won a competition held by the Latvian chapter of the United World Colleges.
"In his remarks the Foreign Minister emphasised the role of the movement in educating young people in Latvia and providing them with international experience. Edgars Rinkēvičs wished the scholarship holders success in their studies and urged them to take the best advantage of this two-year opportunity," said a release from the ministry.
Jeļena Fomiškina, Chairperson of the Board of UWC Latvia, expressed hope that the number of Latvian students in the network, as well as public awareness and support for the UWC movement will continue to increase.
UWC was founded in 1962 and based on the ideas of German educationalist Kurt Hahn. Hahn was a pioneer in education, some of his earlier initiatives having included Salem School in Germany and Outward Bound. Then, in 1958, while attending a conference at the NATO Staff College, he was inspired by the cooperation he witnessed between former adversaries from World War II.
Today, UWC has 17 schools and colleges on 4 continents, the majority of which focus exclusively on the 16-19 year-old age group.
To date, almost 70 Latvian students have graduated from UWC colleges around the globe.
A promotional video is below.
