Li Po Chun United World College


Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong, established in 1992, is an International Baccalaureate school in Wu Kai Sha, Hong Kong. It is the eighth member of the today 18 United World Colleges, others having been established in Wales, Canada, Norway, Italy, India, Singapore, Swaziland, United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, Armenia, China, Thailand and Japan. Patrons of the college and the movement include Nelson Mandela, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and Charles, Prince of Wales. The first college, UWC Atlantic College, was established by the German educationalist Kurt Hahn to promote international understanding and peace. Students are selected by UWC National Committees or selection contacts in over 150 countries on merit and many receive full scholarships. UWC students are eligible to participate in the Shelby Davis Scholarship program, the largest international scholarship program for undergraduates in the world, which funds undergraduate studies for UWC students at leading US universities.
Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong is a subvented school receiving 22 per cent of its funding from the Hong Kong Government's Direct Subsidy Scheme but commands the highest school fees of all such organisations.

Admissions

Located in Hong Kong, Li Po Chun UWC states one of its goals as building understanding between students from Chinese cultural backgrounds and those from the rest of the world. Students have the opportunity to learn about China first hand.
The school admits students from over 110 countries and from many local Hong Kong schools. The student body is made up of roughly 42% local and 58% overseas students. In the year 2008–2009, students coming from the 6 inhabited continents represented 83 countries in the world.
While "overseas" students are selected by the national selection committees of their home countries, Hong Kong students are chosen by a selection committee appointed by the Home Affairs Bureau. Hong Kong selection has 3 rounds. The first short-listing is based on the written applications. Then from those applications, a group of students is chosen to participate in "Challenge Day." Challenge Day consists of group activities and is organized by teachers and students. Afterwards, individual interview will be conducted by the Principal and a committee formed by government official. There will also be an aptitude test on Math and English. Each year, more than 500 students from Hong Kong apply for places, and from these, 50 places are awarded to Li Po Chun UWC plus an extra 12 to 14 places at overseas United World Colleges.

Academics

Li Po Chun United World College takes advantage of its location as a meeting place of east and west. The College offers Chinese at all levels, from beginners to advanced literature. Li Po Chun's average IB grade has hovered around 38 points in recent years, one of the highest averages worldwide. In 2007, 5 students gained perfect scores of 45, which together with the other United World Colleges, represented over 15% of all perfect scorers achieved in the world. Due to these academic achievements LPCUWC is considered one of the top high schools in the World. In late 2007, the Wall Street Journal identified the College as one of the world's top 50 schools for its success in preparing students to enter Ivy League universities, one of only two schools located outside the US, and the only UWC outside the US to make it into the list.
Students at the College undertake a 2-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.
A requirement for the IB diploma, each student attends a TOK class for one year about half as often as any other class, is required to make a formal TOK presentation and in the 2nd year write a paper on one of the topics/questions given by the IBO.

Quan Cai

The CAS program is a part of the requirements for an International Baccalaureate diploma. It requires a set number of hours in each of the 3 areas. Li Po Chun's adaptation of this system is called the "Quan Cai" program. The program has 5 components, community service, creativity, action, campus support and global concerns. The services are unique in that students sign up for a service for an entire year, while the other 4 activities are generally only 1 term activities. A student is required to officially participate in 4 terms of service, 3 of campus support, 3 of global concerns, 2 of action and 1 term of creativity in their 2 years at LPC.
Generally the most emphasis is placed on the community service aspect. Community services include a variety of projects ranging from helping asylum seekers, to visiting nursing homes and aiding the elderly, helping underprivileged children with schooling and the lending of facilities to services outside of Hong Kong such as Initiative for Peace. The school also competes in most of the sports available as Quan Cais. This includes soccer, basketball, athletics, volleyball and badminton. The flexibility of the Quan Cai program allows students to start new activities at any time, and if successful the school adopts the activity, making it official.

Café

The Café team organizes performance evenings that consist of the College community sharing dances, songs and poems with each other. It is an event that works to boost morale on campus and bring together the College for one night. The Café team also cooks a wide variety of baked goods that are sold throughout the show with the proceeds going to a different charity each Café. Café is considered one of the most popular activities on campus.

Global Issues Forum

Within the academic timetable, which works on an 8-day cycle, the last block of day 8 is reserved for Global Issues Forum. The entire student body and members of the staff gather to listen to a presentation, given by fellow students, on a global issue, and then topic is opened for discussion. Past topics have included democracy in Hong Kong and globally, unsustainable fishing, censorship in China and around the world, the future of the EU, the impacts of migration and cultural immersion, sexism, the value of education etc. Not only is it a chance for community members to learn about events and issues worldwide from invaluable sources, but it is also a venue for the sharing of diverse political perspectives.

Cultural Evenings

The Chinese Cultural Evening takes place every year, while the other evenings, namely the North American Cultural Evening, Caribbean and Latin American Cultural Evening, Middle East, South and Central Asia Cultural Evening, Asia-Pacific Evening of Culture, African Cultural Evening and European Cultural Evening take place once every two years, with 3 other regions every year.

China Week

Unlike other United World Colleges, first year students travel to China, do community service, and experience everyday Chinese life. Annual China week projects include: Teaching English to children of the Yao Tribe in China, visiting an elderly home and helping mentally and physically handicapped children in Guangdong province, working with lepers in Yunnan province and working with the Amity Foundation, China, and Habitat for Humanity. A popular trip involves hiking, cycling, kayaking and rock climbing in the Yangshuo area.

Project Week

Annual project weeks last nine days in March and are for students to lead and work on projects in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Some recent projects have included: Helping rehabilitate a tsunami-struck school in Sri Lanka, performing plays for children in Bangkok, working with children at the Christina Noble Children's Foundation in Ho Chi Minh City and travelling to North Korea to learn about life and affairs in a country that much of the world knows little about, and working in several children's orphanages run by the Happy Tree Organisation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Some students also take on other challenging projects during this time such as travelling to Vietnam overland from Hong Kong and human rights evaluations in Philippines. Some students also stay in Hong Kong, where there are opportunities to do service locally.

Graduates

Students can choose from several options for post-Li Po Chun experiences. Some graduates receive offers from top universities around the world, with most students earning or qualifying for significant scholarships. Others choose to pursue "3rd year options" which can range from service to traveling, most of which have some sort of cultural immersion. Others go straight into the work force or return to their home countries for a gap year.

Notable alumni