UWC National Committee of Nepal has begun accepting applications for the 2017 UWC scholarships. Application forms are available in English and in Nepali. The deadline is September 2, 2016. The form contains details of where the application must be submitted.

The application costs Rs. 2,000. However, quoting the note which appears on the bottom of the cover page of the application form:

Applicants who have financial difficulties can submit a request letter from the school principal for application fee waiver.

As and when details of scholarship offers become available, they will be published on the UWC Nepal website. While we had just one full scholarships for 2014, we expect as many if not more offers as we have had in the past two years. Cick here for details of the 2015 and here for the 2016 offers.

Here’s some more details (taken from the page of the same title on the UWCNepal website, where you can also find links to the application forms should the above links not work for one reason or another, or should you not be able to access this page for one reason or another.)

There’s just one difference between the content of this “reproduction” and that of the source page, the bit appearing between asterisks.

How To Apply

Selection Process:

First Stage                  Written Applications

Second Stage             Group-based Activities, Mini-Essay and Personal Interviews

Third Stage                Group discussion and Personal Interviews

*Clarification regarding the recommendation letter required as part of the application: Students are required to submit TWO recommendations. One should be by the Principal from your School or College and the second one should be written by someone who knows you well excluding family members.* [Emphasis mine.]

• Students must meet the eligibility criteria [see below] in order to apply for the UWC colleges
• Students can download the application form in English or Nepali and complete it in their preferred language
• The completed application form along with the additional documents required such as mark sheets and recommendations along with the application form fee can be submitted to UWC Nepal Office (see Contact Us) or can be scanned and emailed at uwcnepal@gmail.com before the deadline.

Here’s more also from the UWCNepal website. (The following came from the Admissions page, where you can also find details of the selection criteria.)

Eligibility Criteria:

• The applicant must be a citizen of Nepal, or at least one of the parents of the candidate must be a Nepalese citizen. In case of exceptions, the national committee will decide on the eligibility on a case by case basis.
• The applicant must be no more than 18 years of age and no less than 16 years old by the start of the UWC academic year (usually mid-August).
• All candidates must have completed 10th grade (SLC or any other equivalent degree).
• All applicants who have school certificates other than the SLC will be evaluated for eligibility using the same percentage requirements as for the SLC.
• For those applicants whose scores are listed in a different format (e.g. Alphabetical grade system), a standardized conversion chart will be used to convert their grades into percentages and the same scoring standard will be applied to them for eligibility as stated below.
• The applicant must have a minimum SLC score of 70% in the case of applicants from private schools and 60% in the case of applicants from public.
• Siblings of former UWC students are also eligible to apply.

If you are wondering why I am involved in this process, click here.

Apart from volunteering to help with the selection, publishing the details of the scholarships, raising funds to help UWC Scholars, I am also involved in outreach work in Kathmandu valley.

I am particularly interested in speaking to and inspiring children in government schools or children from low socio-economic backgrounds to apply for these scholarships. If you are an administrator or teacher at such a school or know of students and schools that would benefit from my speaking to them, get in touch.

Updated on Aug. 9, with details of how to obtain an application fee waiver. 

November 11 Update

We had almost 200 applicants! After narrowing down the pool to 92 candidates for the second stage of the selection process, we are now left with 38 for the final stage tomorrow!

Amongst them — a little over a dozen or so — are applicants who graduated from government (public) schools or who graduated from private schools but were studying on scholarship. Owing to their family’s limited financial resources, they qualify for full scholarships, while the rest for the partial scholarship offers.

Unfortunately, this year, we have only four full scholarship offers, two of which are already earmarked for students from particular schools, which leaves only two for those vying for full scholarships tomorrow! As for offers of partial scholarships, or placements with NO funding, we have a total of eight.

Good luck to the 38 that have made it to the final stage! As for the rest of you that didn’t make it this far, that is not really a reflection of the quality of your candidacy. Most of the applications I had the pleasure of evaluating in the first stage, and the pleasure of interviewing in the second stage were highly accomplished and capable. I only wish we had more places.

If you are interested in pursuing other avenues, I have a page where I publish details of scholarship opportunities for Nepalese students around the world. There isn’t a whole lot right now but I am hoping to build on it as and when I get help from volunteers. You should keep checking that page if you are interested. One day, I hope to even employ someone to assist students like you apply for those scholarships…one day…if and when I get some funding to pay for such as employee!

* * * * * * * *

November 14 Update

We completed the third and final stage of the selection process last Saturday. I was involved in the selection of the candidates for full scholarships — candidates from low income, or very poor, families. Along with two other fellow UWCers, I interviewed 13 candidates.

Not unlike the candidates I have had the pleasure of getting to know the last two times I was involved in this process, some had been lucky enough to have been recognised for their academic potential and had gotten scholarships to study at prestigious private schools in Kathmandu. But most had struggled their entire academic career at under-resourced and under-funded government (public) schools — not unlike the ones COMMITTED works with — and overcome seemingly unsurmountable obstacles.

There were the usual for Nepal but incredible stories! Stories of completing schooling in flying colors attending a school three hours away from home! Completing school in flying colors while fulfilling domestic responsibilities — such as cooking, cleaning, babysitting younger siblings — in a family of multiple members even as a child himself/herself! Completing school even after losing everything to the earthquakes of April and May 2015. Staying on in school while constantly fighting against family and community pressures to quit, forget about with inspiration and encouragement from adults and/or role models.

They had all faced great personal, domestic, social and financial difficulties and challenges, but in spite of that, had forged on, driven on by a dream to make something of themselves through education, to get somewhere in life that no one in their family, or from their community, had.

As has been the case in the past, there were many who reminded me of my own struggles on my own way to the UWC. Also, no different from the two times I have been involved in this process, we had many more deserving candidates than we have offers for.

All we have is just two full scholarships. Two! 🙁

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