Yerevan/Mediamax/. "Dilijan is an international educational project that goes beyond a single country and opens the way for young people to the best universities of the world, be it in the USA, Europe or Asia,” the former head of "Troika Dialogue” company, co-head of Sberbank CIB, Ruben Vardanyan, said in an interview to "Vedomosti”.

“We live in the era of globalization, when one of the most important skills is the ability to understand and accept other cultures, without losing your own cultural identity. Dilijan School is a bright example of such international cooperation, both among the donors and among the students. It is expected that children from about 30 countries will come here to study during the first year (2014). Dilijan is an international educational project that goes beyond a single country and opens the way for young people to the best universities of the world, be it in the USA, Europe or Asia. What we are doing is an attempt to establish a link between people who can influence the future of the world,” said Ruben Vardanyan.

According to him, those participating in the establishment of Dilijan international school hail the idea that new leaders will be growing in the world, leaders who can change it, who will know each other well because they have studied together. This is important also in terms of the safety of the future world.

“There exists a United World Colleges system set up 50 years ago, including 12 educational institutions worldwide, which are selected through a network of national committees in 140 countries. Every year, it allocates funds to finance the education of 100 graduates from UWC schools in the best U.S. universities. The Universities of Ivy League enroll their future students also from these schools. For example, the Atlantic College in the South Wales (the most breathtaking experiment in the sphere of education since World War II according to The Times) is the only educational institution in Great Britain, where the representatives of Harvard and Yale come to select the graduates. Our school is now undergoing the process of joining the UWC. We envisage a large-scale program of scholarships and grants for talented and gifted students. Our goal is to make the qualitative international education available for young people irrespective of the financial possibilities of their parents. Dilijan international school is a charitable initiative with the budget of over $‌120mln just for capital construction,” said Ruben Vardanyan.

According to him, the school will enroll children aged not 7 but 13, and it will be easier to select children because at this age they are already formed individuals.

“Going back to what I am doing both in Dilijan and in “Skolkovo”: the idea is not to export the best minds but to import them. It’s very important that our children did not leave the country and studied in British schools; it’s important that foreigners came here to study in our environment,” Ruben Vardanyan concluded.