What is the World Scholar’s Cup?

World Scholar’s Cup (WSC) is an international team academic program with participants from over 82 countries. The program was founded by Daniel Berdichevsky in 2006. Juniors and seniors are to compete with their own levels depending on age.

Phnom Penh Regional Round 2019

A regional round is a preliminary round that takes place in the city of a certain country or region. In a regional round, there are two competition days. In day 1 of the regional round, scholars (students who participate in the competition) are instructed to participate in the following activities:

• ● Scholar’s Challenge: multiple choice individual activity where each student is allowed to fill 1-5 bubbles.


• ● Collaborative Writing: given 6 prompts—your team has to choose 3 different subject areas for each individual. Your team will be given time to prepare and research the following topics together then time by yourselves to write your essay.


• ● Team Debate: each team will be given three rounds to debate across all the subjects and 15 minutes to prepare. After each round, give constructive feedback to the other team and areas to improve.

Day 2 of the competition will take place at a theater, where a talent show for the scholars is hosted, with thousands of alpaca plushies ready to be adopted by each scholar. The Scholar’s Bow will also commence: teams are gathered together in a theater with a clicker to work together to solve analytic questions and multimedia challenges within a limited amount of time. There will also be a debate showcase, where the 8 best teams are selected to debate on stage and be judged by a group of panel judges who are made up of a group of scholars as well as the audience members.

Our 2019 Phnom Penh regional round (Junior) took place (Day 1) at Abundant Life International School. Scholars were divided into 2 waves which were called Penguin wave and Emu wave. This means scholars with different waves have different schedules of their activities.

Scholars who did well in the Regional round would continue their journey by participating in the Global rounds, where they would travel to different parts of the world to compete. Unlike the 4 main events offered in the regional rounds, there are 3 additional events which are the Scholar’s Scavenge, where scholars from different countries are grouped into teams to complete a list of tasks: the Scholar’s ball is an event where scholars from different countries are given the chance to mingle and make friends; the Cultural Fair is where scholars from different cultural backgrounds could showcase and learn more about other cultures.

Scholars who did exceptionally well at the Global round would be qualified for the Tournament of Champions (ToC) which is held at Yale University in Connecticut, USA annually. Scholars will also be able to meet the mascot of the World Scholars Cup, an alpaca named Painted Warrior.

This year, students of Western International School has bagged a large amount of trophies and medals from the Regional round, the Global rounds, and the Tournament of Champions.

Tol Donysa, a 9th grader and a scholar who has participated in the World Scholar’s Cup for the past two years, said that, while the World Scholars Cup is an academic competition, it is not to be taken too seriously, as it is an opportunity to make friends from different parts of the world. It’s about gaining new experiences and simply having fun. She has also stated that events like the Scholar’s Ball and the Cultural Fair, as well as the Tournament of Champions, is a great time to make new friends and just dance your heart out. She has also stated that the competition has definitely made her more open and sociable, improved both her social and academics skills, and encouraged her eagerness to learn more about other cultures. Donysa has recommended scholars who are planning to participate to study 2 or 3 months beforehand to prepare. The most important subjects are definitely the Challenge and the Bowl, as stated. Her advice for future scholars is to not stress and to simply have fun.