Saturday, October 11 2014

 Well-known Russian businessman of Armenian origin, member of the Board of Directors of Ameriabank Ruben Vardanyan is sure that UWC Dilijan will be a success.

While opening the school on Saturday, Vardanyan reminded those present of the Wings of Tatev project. He said that before the project Tatev Monastery was visited by no more than 4,000 people a year. "This year it has had as many as 150,000 visitors. I hope that UWC Dilijan will also be a success," Vardanyan said.  

He told the students that there is a prison saying, "Don't believe, don't be afraid, don't ask" but asked them not to follow it but to believe in their strengths, not to be afraid of mistakes and to ask friends for help. "One can achieve something only through joint effort," Vardanyan said. 

In this context, he thanked his wife Veronika Zonabend for being by his side during the project.

Zonaberd expressed hope that one day Nobel Prize will go to a UWC Dilijan graduate.

UWC Dilijan College is a large-scale charitable initiative. The spending of construction of the school exclusively of charitable funds reached $115 million as of the opening day. The second phase of the construction will cost about $75 million. Additional funds under the Project (for acquisition of land, architectural and engineering work, development of infrastructures) are estimated at about $30 million for the entire period. The operational budget of the school for the coming 5 years amounts to $8 million per year in average. The operational budget will be replenished from the endowment fund management and scholarship fund. By 2023 the College with its current 96 students from nearly 50 countries will operate at full capacity and the number of students will increased to 650 people. The teaching staff will exceed 60 people. The IB Diploma is taught at all UWC schools and colleges, including UWC Dilijan College. The lessons are delivered in English.  There are 10 students from Armenia at UWC Dilijan College. UWC Dilijan is the joint project of philanthropists Ruben Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend and their partners. UWC Dilijan became the first college in the post-Soviet area to join the UWC network. Talking to reporters, Ruben Vardanyan said the project is important not only to Armenia. He hopes the school will become an example of new world standards in the field of education. Vardanyan said and thanked everyone who believed in the success of the project.  

The construction of the school is being supported by the government of Armenia and personally by President Serzh Sargsyan. UWC Dilijan was built according to the designs of a leading London architecture bureau - Tim Flynn Architects. The UWC Dilijan admission criteria are available on http://www.am.uwc.org/.-