Two awarded UWC scholarships

Cameron Moncur and Chavez Minnis are the two most recent Bahamians to be awarded full United World College scholarships.

Moncur, 18, a graduate of Queen’s College, traveled to Norway in August 2020, where he is in the middle of the two-year program toward an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma.

Moncur’s offer to study in Norway was the first time that United World College (UWC) Red Cross in Norway offered a place to a student from The Bahamas, according to the United World Colleges Bahamas National Committee.

Minnis, 19, a graduate of N.G.M. Major High School on Long Island, spent his first term at United World College Pearson online, but will be traveling to Canada to begin in-person lessons later this month, in the global education movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

UWC is the only two-year pre-university educational NGO that brings together students from 120 different countries to study at one of 13 campuses around the world.

Selection is based on demonstrated promise and potential. In accordance with the UWC ethos that education should be independent of the student’s socioeconomic means, 70 percent of students in their IB diploma years receive either full or partial financial assistance, based on their needs. Full and partial scholarships are provided to students attending UWC Colleges. Full scholarships cover tuition, room and board.

The IB is a demanding academic program. Students are expected to both cope with the academic load, as well as participate fully in the life of the college. To be seriously considered by UWC Bahamas, students should have successfully completed Bahamas General Certificates of Secondary Education (BGCSE) with a minimum B-plus average or to have done so by June of the academic year of application, along with competitive standardized test scores.

Central to the ethos of UWC is the belief that education can bring together young people from all backgrounds on the basis of their shared humanity, to engage with the possibility of social change through courageous action, personal example and selfless leadership. To achieve this, UWC schools and colleges worldwide deliver a challenging and transformational educational experience to a deliberately diverse group of young people, inspiring them to become agents of positive change in line with UWC’s core values – international and intercultural understanding, celebration of differences, personal responsibility and integrity, mutual responsibility and respect, compassion and service, respect for the environment, a sense of idealism, personal challenge and action and personal example.

UWC has 18 schools and colleges on four continents that are supported by 150 national committees operated by volunteers.

The colleges offer the IB diploma as their formal curriculum, a qualification that UWC played a major part in developing, while emphasizing the importance of experiential learning, community service and outdoor activities.

The UWC system of schools was founded in 1962 by Kurt Hahn, who believed that education should provide “an enterprising curiosity, and undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self-denial, and above all, compassion.”

Moncur and Minnis follow on the heels of Charles Hamilton Jr. (UWC Germany), Savanna Gibson and Kiran Halkitis (UWC Costa Rica), and Jerry Butler (UWC China) who were awarded scholarships to pursue studies at UWC.

Since 1971, more than 100 Bahamian students have graduated with the IB diploma from UWCs in Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, China, Wales, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Costa Rica and South Africa. Moncur will be the first to graduate Norway when he completes the program.

John Fowler, 1971-1973, was the first UWC Bahamian student. He attended UWC of the Atlantic.

UWC is in the process of accepting applications to attend UWC Colleges in China and Costa Rica for 2021, and an unfunded opportunity to the United States.

“This year, we will transfer as many of the application and interview procedures online in an effort to accommodate as many students as possible,” said Barbara Ann Bernard, chair of the national committee. “Our website is being upgraded and we will begin accepting applications the third week in January. We are looking forward to receiving applicants around our archipelago from final year high school students.”

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