Scholarships joy for pupils

Two top students from Bahrain have been invited to complete their pre-university education at the prestigious United World College (UWC) in the Netherlands and in India.
 
Year 11 students Abdulla Omaigan, of the British School of Bahrain, and Sreedevi Kesavan, of St Christopher’s School, were selected by their respective home committees – Bahrain and India – to begin a two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma programme (IB) in a challenging UWC environment.

UWC is a global movement that aims to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Students from around the globe are selected at pre-university level, based on merit and regardless of their financial status and ethnic, religious or educational background, to attend one of the colleges in Canada, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Swaziland, US, Venezuela, UK, Costa Rica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Maastricht.

A full scholarship worth BD26,883 was awarded to Abdulla, 15, to attend the United World College Maastricht while Sreedevi, 17, was awarded a 50 per cent scholarship worth BD7,636 to study at the Mahindra United World College of India in Pune.

Abdulla, from Hidd, was born and brought up in Bahrain. His father Ebrahim is a retired banker and mum Helen is English. He was introduced to UWC by a friend and says researching about it ignited a passion to excel. Abdulla said: “I was never really an academic student but aspiring for UWC has given me motivation and determination.

“I like big ideas and want to explore life. Nowadays everyone is talking about excelling in either academics or sports or something else. I believe in doing my best in different fields and bringing them together to create a bigger picture – that is what attracted me to UWC.

“I am looking forward to living away from my parents. Because I have had such a privileged upbringing I want to go into another zone and want to learn to adapt and excel in different circumstances and that is probably the most exciting part about what this experience is going to be.”

Pursing a creative skill, sports and physical activity and service to the community are fundamental to the IB programme and UWC students are known to take this to another level.

Each institution tailors its service programme to the local environment to work closely with the community. For example, students at the India campus work with local village organisations to alleviate some of the worst effects of poverty and illiteracy.

Every UWC campus is formed of students from a multitude of nationalities and Abdulla said: “I believe UWC is going to be an amazing experience. It makes you part of not just your country or region but also part of the globe. So you get that sense of unity to cooperate together and set your arguments and tensions aside.

“I hope to come back to Bahrain and help open opportunities for all people in this country because it is not about bettering a certain section of the community … it is about bettering Bahrain and doing something to include everyone.”

Both scholars have completed the silver level of Duke of Edinburgh awards and have been doing voluntary work in their spare time with the RIA Centre for special needs children in Adliya.

Sreedevi plays the piano and is passionate about art. Overjoyed about her selection she said it was like a ‘dream come true’. She said: “I am overjoyed and I still can’t get my head around it.

“The idea of being able to interact with students from so many different nationalities and being able to put forward your opinion and challenge every stereotype is also wonderful.

“I also hope to reconnect with India after five years living in Bahrain, relearn Hindi and Indian history and explore my country with new eyes.”

Unsure about her future plans she is toying with the idea of pursuing geo-sciences, chemistry or fine arts at university. She lives in Hoora with her parents GulfWeekly reporter Anasuya and banker father Kesavan and sister Madhavi, six.

Bahrainis and long-term residents are eligible to apply through UWC Bahrain, which is in its third year of operation. The first student on the programme was Yasser Hammadi who will graduate from UWCUSA this year. Last year, Arsal Sohail, Nabeel Mohamed Al Hassan and Jeanice Vacarizas were awarded varying amounts of scholarship to study at Canada, the UK and US.

Resident students can also apply through their national committees or apply through UWC Bahrain for consideration in the ‘direct application system’. They will be considered for a place by UWC International. Last year Aaratrika Bose from Indian School was selected to attend Li Po Chung in Hong Kong. UWC scholarships are made available via various types of donations to individual institutions that offer scholarships to a varied list of countries every year.

Representative for the Bahrain committee, Karen Moffat, acting director of the British School of Bahrain, said: “It is one of our key goals to raise funds for scholarships in the future so that we may always be able to have multiple places on offer.

“We are hoping to build strong partnerships with organisations and businesses in Bahrain and a community of shared resources, ideas and communication.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for bright young students from the kingdom who can in return be able to offer so much to this community in the future.”

More information on UWC Bahrain is available on www.bh.uwc.org