Israeli organisation Givat Haviva, whose work in The Jewish-Arab Center for Peace earned it a UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 2011, is set to open an international boarding school in September 2018. It will be located in the Givat Haviva campus in northern Israel.
The Givat Haviva International School will offer a two-year program for students aged 15 to 18. It gained accreditation from the International Baccalaureate Organisation in January 2018.
Taught entirely in English, the course will lead to an IB Diploma and will focus on “intellectual growth, conflict resolution training and leadership development,” according to the school’s vision.
“We need global leaders orientated towards collaboration and shared solutions”
The school aims for a very diverse student body, with half of the 50-student inaugural class composed by Arab and Jewish Israelis and the other half of international students from all over the world – including student pairs from different sides of conflict regions, the school’s website says.
The school’s mission states that it seeks to prepare a network of young leaders working together globally and locally.
“At a time when global leaders are on paths of isolationism and separation, we need global leaders orientated towards collaboration and shared solutions,” it reads.
Givat Haviva director Yaniv Sagi said the school addresses a gap in the education offered in the region, preparing young leaders to work towards a “shared, sustainable and inclusive society,” the Jerusalem Post has reported.
“With this launch, drawing on decades of experience in developing and operating award-winning peace education programs, the Givat Haviva Center extends the already impressive reach of its educational impact in the international arena,” he said.
The organisation was founded in 1949 as an education center of the Kibbutz Federation.
