Li Po Chun United World College

22°25′53″N 114°14′53″E

Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong
Address
10 Lok Wo Sha Lane, Sai Sha Road, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong

Wu Kai Sha

Hong Kong
Information
TypeIB World School
Established6 September 1992 (1992-09-06)
PrincipalDr. Spencer A. Fowler
Faculty29
Number of students258
TuitionLocal student: HK$308,000

Overseas student: HK$406,000

Need based scholarship available
AffiliationUnited World Colleges
Websitewww.lpcuwc.edu.hk
Li Po Chun United World College
Traditional Chinese香港李寶椿聯合世界書院
Simplified Chinese香港李宝椿联合世界书院
Literal meaningHong Kong Li Po Chun United World College

The Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong (LPCUWC, Chinese: 香港李寶椿聯合世界書院), established in 1992, is an International Baccalaureate boarding school in Wu Kai Sha (烏溪沙), Hong Kong, within walking distance of Wu Kai Sha station. It is the eighth member of the today 18-member United World Colleges movement, and was the first United World College to be founded in Asia.[1]

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.[2] According to the Wall Street Journal in late 2007 and the Brown Daily Herald in 2014, the college has top university acceptance rates and is identified 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.[3][4][5]

In 2019, the school initiated a solar power system, installing 1,168 panels on campus and will use the revenue generated to provide need-based scholarship for students from grassroots families or developing countries.[6]

History

Li Po Chun UWC was founded as the first Asian member of the UWC movement. Others having been established in Wales, Canada, Norway, Italy, India, Singapore, Eswatini, United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, Armenia, China, Thailand, Japan and Tanzania.[7] Patrons of the college and the movement include Nelson Mandela, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, and the Prince of Wales. The first college, UWC Atlantic College, was established by the German educationalist Kurt Hahn to promote international understanding and peace.

In 1978, Dr Lee Quo-Wei GMB JP, as the Chair of the UWC Hong Kong Selections Committee, was selecting Hong Kong students to study in overseas UWC schools and colleges. He later initiated the idea of building a UWC college in Hong Kong with the help of Mr Li Shiu Tsang MBE JP, who set up the Li Po Chun Charitable Trust.[8] The Trust donated HK$100 million towards the construction of the college, while the Hong Kong government gifted a former mining site in Ma On Shan as the campus.[9] With the support of Sir David Wilson, then Governor of Hong Kong, and the then Principal of UWC Atlantic College, David Sutcliffe, the college was opened on 6 September 1992 by HRH the Prince of Wales.[8] Li Po Chun UWC was one of the first International Baccalaureate schools, and the first international boarding school, in Hong Kong.[10]

Since 2000, UWC graduates have been eligible to participate in the Shelby Davis Scholarship program, the largest international scholarship program for undergraduate studies in the world, which funds UWC students attending leading US universities.

Admissions
Aerial view of Li Po Chun UWC Campus

Li Po Chun UWC admits students from over 110 countries in addition to students from many local Hong Kong schools. The student body is made up of roughly 42% local and 58% overseas students.[3][11] In the year 2020–2021, students coming from all 6 inhabited continents represented 90 countries in the world.[12]

Students for all of the United World Colleges are selected by UWC National Committees or selection contacts in over 150 countries on merit, and many receive scholarships. Similar to students from overseas who are selected by the national selection committees of their home countries, local Hong Kong students are chosen by the UWC Hong Kong Committee.

The Hong Kong selection process has 3 rounds.[13] The first short-listing is based on a written application composed of both short and long answer questions about the applicant's extracurricular and community service experience as well as the applicant's academic performance in the past two years, their recommendation form and their interest in UWC.[14] At this stage, students are given the opportunity to rank their top 10 choices of college out of the 18 colleges. The shortlisted group of students is then invited to participate in the school's Challenge Day, a day camp consisting of group activities led by over 100 alumni, teachers and students, usually held in the winter.[15] The final stage of the process is an individual interview with the Principal and a committee composed of an experienced UWC alumni and an external, independent interviewer. Out of the 300 or so Hong Kong students that apply every year, 50 are accepted to Li Po Chun UWC, with an additional 15 sent to other United World Colleges around the world, where they represent Hong Kong.[16]

Academics

Students at the College undertake a 2-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. In 2020, Li Po Chun UWC's IB diploma score averages at 36 points, compared to a 31.34 average worldwide.[17] 28% of its graduates received 40 or more IB Diploma points, compared to the world average of 12.9%[18] One graduate obtained the maximum of 45 points, with two students scoring 44 and six scoring 43.[19]

Li Po Chun UWC offers the following subjects on the IBDP level:[20]

Group 1: Studies in Language & Literature Group 2: Language Acquisition Group 3: Individuals & Societies Group 4: Sciences Group 5: Mathematics Group 6: The Arts
Chinese English Business Management Biology Analysis & Approaches Visual Arts
English French Economics Chemistry Applications & Interpretation Theatre
Spanish Mandarin Environmental Systems & Societies Environmental Systems & Societies
Self-taught Spanish History Physics
Geography
Global Politics

Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)

Quan Cai

The CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) program is one of the three core elements of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.[21] It requires a set number of hours in each of the 3 areas. Li Po Chun UWC's adaptation of this system is called the "Quan Cai" program ("全才" in Chinese, meaning "development of the whole person" ).[22] The program has 4 components, namely community service, creativity, activity, and campus service.[23] A student is required to officially participate in at least 2 Quan Cai per year. The Quan Cai program allows students to start new activities (called an "initiative") at any time, and if successful, the school adopts the activity, making it official. Li Po Chun UWC offers more than 70 Quan Cai activities for students to participate in every year, including Initiative for Peace, Playback Theatre, Coral Monitoring, Lion Dance etc.[8][24]

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 participates in an open discussion. Past topics include democracy and censorship, unsustainable fishing, the future of the EU, the impacts of migration and cultural immersion, sexism, the value of education, poverty, fair trade etc.[25]

Cultural Evenings

Cultural evenings aim to promote international understanding and appreciation of diversity. There are six cultural evenings each year, starting with an International Cultural Evening prepared by second years for incoming first years as part of the orientation programme.[26]

The Chinese Cultural Evening takes place every year, while the other evenings, namely the North American Cultural Evening (NACE), Caribbean and Latin American Cultural Evening (CLACE), Middle East, South and Central Asia Cultural Evening (MESCA), Asia-Pacific Evening of Culture (APEC), African Cultural Evening (ACE) and European Cultural Evening (ECE) take place once every two years. In these student-led cultural evenings, students from the same region come together to prepare a week of pre-cultural evening events that highlights their cultural characteristics and a dinner of regional cuisines before the final performance.[27]

China Week

First year students travel to Mainland China in their first term to engage in different community services.[28] Annual China week projects include Teaching English to children of the Yao Tribe in China, visiting an elderly home and helping mentally and physically disabled children in Guangdong province, working with lepers in Yunnan province, working with the Amity Foundation, 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.[8][29] 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.[10] 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 stay in Hong Kong, where there are opportunities to do service locally such as hiking 150km across New Territories without access to technology.

Boarding and Pastoral Care

All students attending the school, including those from Hong Kong, are required to board. The full student body of approximately 250 students live in 4 residential blocks, sharing rooms of four students, each representing four different nationalities. The entire full time teaching faculty also reside on campus, serving as tutors in addition to their teaching responsibilities. The school is further supported by 2 part time school counselors, 2 school nurses, and second-year students who have been trained in mental health to support their peers.[30][31][32]

Graduates

Many graduates enroll in top universities around the world, with most students earning or qualifying for significant scholarships. 46% of Li Po Chun UWC graduates go on to study in the United States, 27% in the United Kingdom, 12% in Hong Kong, 9% in Canada, 5% in Europe and 1% in Asia.[33] Others choose to pursue "3rd year options" which can range from service to traveling, while others go straight into the workforce or return to their home countries for a gap year.

Recent university destinations include Yale University, Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Wellesley College, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Science Po, University of Toronto etc.[34]

Notable alumni

List of principals
  • David Wilkinson (1992-1994)[40]
  • Blair Forster (1994-2003)[41]
  • Stephen Codrington (2004-2011)[42]
  • Arnett Edwards (2011–2023)[43]
  • Dr. Spencer A. Fowler (2023 - )[44]

Controversy

In May 2018, Li Po Chun UWC announced a HK$50 million donation from Dr. Lee Shau Kee for the development of a Belt and Road Resources Center on campus, scheduled for an opening in Fall 2019. The proposed centre aimed to provide a space for secondary school students across Hong Kong to interact with international students from Belt and Road countries, such as Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.[45]

In Dec 2018, students at Li Po Chun UWC launched a petition[46] asking the college to rename the center, fearing that the name Belt and Road Resources Center would compromise the college's political impartiality by siding with China's premier foreign policy. Speculation of the college's political influence stemmed from the open support of Chief Executive Carrie Lam on the college's mission to improve knowledge exchange between Belt and Road countries at the LPCUWC education symposium held in February 2018.[47]

The name of the center has since then been changed to Lee Shau Kee Peace Education Centre, designed by M Moser and Associates.[48]

See also

References
  1. "Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong Belt and Road Resources Centre". AsiaOne. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  2. "Peace Mission? United World College's Belt & Road centre looks more like making for the money". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  3. "Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong".
  4. Staff writer (28 December 2007). "How the Schools Stack Up". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  5. Chung, David. "Top high schools find admissions success". Brown Daily Herald. Brown University. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  6. "Electricity to spark scholars".
  7. 星島日報. "【教育專題】李寶椿打造教育多樣性 增課外體驗吸納本地生". std.stheadline.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  8. "Li Po Chun United World College (Fees & Reviews) Hong Kong, 10 Lok Wo Sha Lane, Sai Sha Road, Shatin". edarabia.com. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  9. "Li Po-chun (李寶椿): his family, his buildings and businesses and a century of philanthropy - The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group". industrialhistoryhk.org. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  10. "Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong Belt and Road Resources Centre". au.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  11. "Electricity to spark scholars".
  12. "Li Po Chun United World College celebrates cultural diversity with LPC World Cup". Young Post. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  13. "Step 4: Timeline and Selection process". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. 星島日報. "【教育專題】李寶椿校友回饋母校 創辦「學長指導計畫」助後輩升學". std.stheadline.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  15. 星島日報. "【教育專題】李寶椿校友回饋母校 創辦「學長指導計畫」助後輩升學". std.stheadline.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  16. "Admissions FAQs". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  17. "IB Diploma stats". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  18. "28% of LPCUWC 2020 Grads Register 40 or More IB Diploma Points". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  19. "Revealed! Hong Kong IB Diploma Results, 2020". whichschooladvisor.com. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  20. "Joining Papers". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  21. "Creativity, activity, service". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  22. Kong, Tatler Hong (26 January 2018). "Li Po Chun United World College". Tatler Hong Kong. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  23. "Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong: Useful info for parents". www.international-schools-database.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  24. "Quan Cai Activities". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  25. "School of thought". Young Post. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  26. "ITS Education Asia Article - Li Po Chun United World College (LPCUWC)". www.itseducation.asia. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  27. "EOTC". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  28. "China Week & Project Week". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  29. "ITS Education Asia Article - Li Po Chun United World College (LPCUWC)". www.itseducation.asia. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  30. "Residential Life". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  31. Krippendorf, Jost (2012). International Education: Principles and Practice. [s.l.]: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-136-35751-0. OCLC 962114568.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  32. "A world of opportunity at Li Po Chun". South China Morning Post. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  33. "About LPCUWC". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  34. "About LPCUWC". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  35. "Asim Butt Artist Page". digitalconsciousness.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  36. "Senators' home cooking and a no-fuss wedding - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  37. "TEDxLPCUWC | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  38. "Hitting the high notes: global success awaits Asian 'rock star' conductors". South China Morning Post. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  39. "Amaya Coppens arrested and released for the second time". Front Line Defenders. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  40. "New head for Li Po Chun". South China Morning Post. 11 August 1994. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  41. "History of UWC-NCTL".
  42. "Stephen Codrington". Biography. Stephen Codrington - The Website. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  43. "Arnett Edwards: An Embodiment Personality of "Never Give Up"". The Knowledge Review. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  44. "📢 College Announcement". Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  45. "Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong Belt and Road Resources Centre". www.acnnewswire.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  46. "【Petition expressing concern about Li Po Chun UWC's Belt & Road Learning and Resources Centre initiative】". Facebook. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  47. "Students sign petition against college's Belt and Road center".
  48. "LSK Peace Ed Centre Granted World's Leading Health Design Certification". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
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