United World College in Mostar

United World College in Mostar
Location
Gimnazija Mostar / 2. kat, Spanjolski trg 1, 88 000 Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina
Information
Type	International Baccalaureate
Established	September 2006
President	Nelson Mandela Queen Noor Elizabeth Rehn
Headmaster	Paul Regan
Number of students	around 200
Affiliation	United World Colleges
Website	www.uwc-ibo.org

The United World College in Mostar (UWCiM) is the twelfth College in the UWC family and the fourth College in Europe. The College was established in September 2006 as a part of UWC-IBO Initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is the first College located in a post-conflict country.

The school shares the building with Mostar Old Gymnasium. Before the war, this gymnasium was the finest school in Yugoslavia. The building is from Austro-Hungarian times and is deeply influenced by Turkish architecture.

Students live in three residences: Sušac House, Čusto House and Vanda House (named by the local owners). Houses are on both banks of the river Neretva. The College does not have a separated campus according to location in the city.

On the 22nd May 2007 International Opening Ceremony of UWCiM took place. This event was attended by Queen Noor of Jordan, Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nikola Špirić and many other important guests.

Location

The UWCiM is located in the city of Mostar which is a centre of Herzegovina, a historical region in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The post address is UWC in Mostar, Španski trg 1, 880 00 Mostar

The IBO at UWC in Mostar

Recently (2007/2008) the UWCiM runs these subjects in each of the IBO groups:

• Group 1 (Language A1): Bosnian A1, Serbian A1, Croatian A1, English A1, German A1, Spanish A1, Italian A1; other languages may be taken as "self-taught" subjects.

• Group 2 (Second Language): English B, English A2, French B, French Ab Initio, German B, Spanish Ab Initio.

• Group 3 (Individuals and societies): Economics, History, Psychology, Anthropology.

• Group 4 (Sciences): Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Systems (will be replaced with Ecosystems and Societies starting in September 2009) .

• Group 5 (Mathematics): Mathematical Studies, Mathematics Standard Level, Mathematics Higher Level.

• Group 6 (Arts): Visual Arts, Theater Arts.

All the subjects are taught by experienced IB teachers. The staff includes teachers from Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Bulgaria, France, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Finland, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (mainly for local A1 languages). UWC-IBO Initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina provides also a Trainee Program for local teachers.

The CAS Program

The post-conflict society eleven years after the Dayton Agreement is now completely safe. On the other hand, there are still possibilities to contribute to the restoration of the community in the city of Mostar. CAS (Creativity, Actions and Service) has the potential to therefore play an important and interesting role in the local community.

Services: Mostar Community Foundation, Special School, Egyptian Village (village for children without parents financed by the Egyptian Government), Roma Neretva - work with Roma people, Refugee Camp, working in a hospital and in kindergartens, Amnesty International Organization...

Activities: Bowling, Hiking, Skiing, Rafting, Cycling, Yoga, Balet, Modern Dance, Volleyball, Basketball, Indoor and Outdoor Soccer, Gym, Rugby.

Creativities: Model United Nations (representatives attended also International MUN Conference in Geneva, Atlantic College MUN Conference and are preparing UWCiM MUN Conference in Mostar which will be held between 11th and 13th April 2008), Newspaper (the official school newspaper is called BUZZ), United World Religions at UWCiM, Photography, Astronomy, local languages lessons provided by students, Music Instruments Tutorials, Voice Tutorial, Chess.

Leaders of the CAS activities are IB teachers, volunteers, students or local supporters.

The Student Body

United College in Mostar in September 2007 welcomed a new generation of students. About 125 of them are Bosnian citizens (Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs) and 75 are international students. International students come from the Albania, Belarus, Hong Kong (China), Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Lebanon, Macedonia, Maldives, Montenegro, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, UK, USA and Finland. New nationalities were added to the student body as of September 2008. These include Austria, Belgium, Malaysia and Norway.

External links

• United World College in Mostar
• Queen Noor marks the Official Opening of UWC in Mostar // The Royal Famile of Jordan. 04 Juli 2007.
• Дзяўчына з Гомельшчыны пачала вучыцца ў Босніі і Герцагавіне // Гомельская праўда. 2007.09.08. С. 9. Template:Ref-be
• „Weltschule“ in Mostar. "World College" in Mostar. // WienInternational.at. 2007-11-08.
• UWC Graduation Ceremony in Mostar // OneWorld Southeast Europe.