United World Colleges has called on the public and private sector to partner in education to increase leadership, encouragement and support for young students in order to prepare them for global risks, and create positive change.
Executive director, Jens Waltermann announced in a statement on January 20 that high-quality education needs to be available to not only the “financial elite”, but also to those of a lower socio-economic status.
“Only 23% of young refugees, for example, have any access to secondary education”
“Empowering education across social divides is needed to address the global risks spelt out in the WEF Global Risks Report 2020,” Waltermann said.
“The recently published report Schools of the Future by the WEF puts a strong emphasis on public-private partnerships and action in education, which are critical to preparing our young citizens for the new realities.”
UWC is a collective of international high schools across four continents that aims to unite “people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future” focusing on students between the ages of 16 to 19.
UWC’s Jens Waltermann calls for partnerships in public-private education. Photo: UWC
Having students across 18 schools, UWC greatly welcomes students from a vast diversity of backgrounds and aids students from lower socio-economic backgrounds by providing partial and full scholarships to those in need.
“Only when we have citizens who can work across boundaries to come up with shared solutions to shared problems are we on the path to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Waltermann stated.
UWC provides access to secondary education to young refugees from war-torn regions and prides itself on being one of the few international high schools to do so.
“Only 23% of young refugees, for example, have any access to secondary education. Yet at UWC you see what happens when local students, privileged and less privileged learn together with young refugees.”
Waltermann further stated that young refugees can often be examples to the “privileged” and by mixing students that are from diverse backgrounds they can learn from one another about conflict and come together to create a change to global risks.
