Six innovative projects addressing global educational challenges were yesterday announced as winners of the 2020 WISE Awards.
They were selected from 625 applications. The WISE Awards, created by the World Innovation Summit for Education – a Qatar Foundation initiative – aims to highlight projects that have demonstrated impact in their communities and have the potential to set international standards and best practices worldwide.
This year’s winning projects are: Barefoot College Solar Electrification with Enriched Education by Barefoot College, Think Equal, Justice Defenders, Parenting The Future, Stawisha Leadership Institute, and Education for Sharing (E4S).
Since the creation of the programme in 2009, WISE has received over 4,500 applications from more than 150 countries – including Australia, Finland, Chile, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Qatar – resulting in 72 winning projects.
“Barefoot College International is incredibly excited to have been recognised by the WISE Awards – this is a prize that we have tremendous respect and admiration for, and it delights us that our innovative work should be a recipient. We look forward very much to continuing to transform lives for the better with the support of the WISE Awards,” said Sue Stevenson from Barefoot College Solar Electrification with Enriched Education.
“Being a WISE awardee is a statement in itself. Wholeheartedly, from Mexico to the world, we are humbled to participate in this inspiring community. We will continue to unleash the joy of children, youth, teachers, and parents as global changemakers with our play-reflect-act education,” said Dina Buchbinder of Education for Sharing.
The six projects will be celebrated through an online event on October 28 including an awards ceremony and discussions with the winners and innovators from the WISE community around the topic titled ‘Building the Future of Education: Conversations with Resilient Innovators’. And, in addition to publicity and networking opportunities, each project will receive $20,000.
Barefoot College Solar Electrification with Enriched Education by Barefoot College is a holistic programme that combines an adaptable curriculum called ENRICHE, and teaching and empowering women in rural areas through digital and financial literacy, while providing them with the tools to solar electrify their communities.
This approach has a ripple effect on the whole community and has benefited 2.2mn people in more than 90 countries.
Think Equal works with education ministries to adopt its free programme mediating value-based, experiential, social, and emotional learning for children aged 3-6. The curriculum covers 25 competencies and skills, including social-emotional learning, gender equality, and peaceful conflict resolution. It operates in 15 countries, and has reached over 38,000 children globally.
Justice Defenders aims to increase access to justice for Kenyan and Ugandan inmates through legal education, training, and practice. The programme educates inmates to become paralegals with a three-week intensive training. Over 24,000 inmates benefited from paralegal services and 12,600 were released from jail.
Parenting The Future by Hupan Modou Foundation initiative is a parent-engagement programme that supports caregivers in developing skills and behaviours to foster children’s attachment, healthy development, and strengthens families’ role in children’s care and education. PTF aims to scale up to all 832 poverty counties in China by 2030.
Stawisha Leadership Institute by Dignitas offers innovative training and coaching to empower educators in marginalised communities to transform students’ opportunities in South Sudan and Kenya. It has partnered with more than 260 schools across six counties, empowered more than 1,500 school leaders, and impacted the learning of 87,000 students.
Education for Sharing is an international non-profit organisation that fosters better global citizenship. Through innovative education built on the power of play, it reaches 10 countries in the Americas. Their model uses a play-reflect-act framework that encourages educators to teach dynamically. It has benefited more than 1,272,223 children, teachers, and parents.
