Six innovative projects addressing global educational challenges were chosen from 625 applications, as recipients of the 2020 WISE Awards.
The WISE Awards, created by World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) – 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.
Since the creation of the programme in 2009, WISE has received over 4,500 applications from over 150 countries – including Australia, Finland, Chile, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Qatar – resulting in 72 winning projects.
According to 2020 winner Sue Stevenson (Barefoot College Solar Electrification with Enriched Education), Barefoot College International is incredibly excited to have been recognised by the WISE Awards.
We look forward to continuing to transform lives for the better with the support of the WISE Awards.
Another 2020 winner, Dina Buchbinder (Education for Sharing), said that being a WISE awardee is a statement in itself. Wholeheartedly, from Mexico to the world, she said that they are humbled to participate in this inspiring community and will continue to unleash the joy of children, youth, teachers, and parents as global changemakers with their play-reflect-act education.
The six winning projects will be celebrated through an online event on 28 October 2020, via an awards ceremony and discussions with winners and innovators from the WISE community. In addition to publicity and networking opportunities, each project will also receive US$20,000.
Winning Projects
Barefoot College Solar Electrification with Enriched Education by Barefoot College is a holistic programme that combines an adaptable curriculum called ENRICHE, teaching and empowering women in rural areas through digital and financial literacy, while providing them with tools to ‘electrify’ their communities via solar power. This approach has a ripple effect on the whole community and has benefitted 2.2 million 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 three to six years old. 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 aim 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 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 opportunities for students in South Sudan and Kenya. It has partnered with over 260 schools across six counties, empowered more than 1,500 school leaders, and impacted the learning of 87,000 students.
Education for Sharing (E4S) 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 benefitted more than 1,272,223 children, teachers and parents.
For updates and more information, visit wise-qatar.org.