Abbreviation UWS Founders Chris Howarth Headquarters London | Formation May 12, 2009 Purpose Education | |
Legal status Charitable organization | ||
United World Schools (UWS) is a UK registered charity that builds and develops community schools for out-of-school children in South East Asia. The charity operates schools in Cambodia Myanmar (Burma), and Nepal. Chris Howarth founded UWS in 2008 after working a volunteer teacher in Cambodia with VSO.
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The charity twins each community school it develops with another school in more affluent parts of the world. These schools help fund the UWS schools. and use the school partnership in curriculum areas such as global citizenship and International Baccalaureate studies. Some schools also provide volunteers for the schools and visit their UWS School. Schools are also funded by donations from individuals and organisations. To date, United World Schools has given educational opportunity to more than 13,000 previously out-of-school children across Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal.
Background
Chris Howarth, volunteered with VSO in Cambodia in 2006. While in Cambodia Chris saw a need and opportunity to work with the under-resourced local authorities of Ratanakiri, NE Cambodia. Working with Cambodian volunteer Nan Sitha, Chris’s daughter Anna Smuts, and colleagues from Portsmouth Grammar and Guildford Grammar school, UWS ran community engagement projects to connect the schools, uniting young people from the UK and Cambodia.
The first UWS school opened in Kong Nork School, Vernsai, Ratanakiri in 2008 and educates more than 250 ethnic minority students.
UWS was founded in 2008 and was registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales in May 2009.