By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter

The World Innovation Summit for Education (Wise) has shortlisted 15 projects from around the world for the 2014 Wise Awards.

The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Student Centre of the Education City yesterday.

HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani, chairman of Wise and chairman of the Wise Awards Jury, said: “This year’s Wise Awards finalists represent some of the most innovative and groundbreaking projects currently changing lives around the world. They originate in many countries and they are breaking down barriers to education in many areas. The sustainable, replicable solutions created by these educational projects can help improve access, quality and relevance the world over.”

On behalf of Sheikh Abdulla, Ali al-Mahmoud, incharge of educational programmes for Wise said at the press conference that the shortlisted projects represent some of the most inspiring and visionary works from around the world.

He said: “These were selected out of more than 200 projects that were received from different corners of the globe. They represent great level of geographical diversity as countries from all the continents are represented among the finalists. This shows the growing reach of Wise and its impact all over the world. The 15 selected projects demonstrate compelling, innovative solutions to today’s most pressing challenges in education.”

According to al-Mahmoud, this year’s finalists showcase creative approaches to issues of access, quality and employment.

“The projects combine conventional tools with a range of technologies to achieve results in a variety of areas which include special needs education, promoting literacy and reading, running a small business and reaching marginalised communities,” he added.

The Wise Awards finalist projects were evaluated and shortlisted by a pre-jury of internationally recognised education experts.

The 15 shortlisted projects are Peace Education Curriculum for Afghan students (Afghanistan/USA),  Adopt a Village (Canada), Growing Communities of Readers (South Africa), Alternate Education for Rural Development in Peru (Spain/Peru), The Song Room (Australia), The School Enterprise Challenge (UK), Videobooks for deaf children (Argentina), Me & MyCity (Finland), Lenguas Jovenes (Mexico), IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC, Switzerland), Street Children: Reintegration through Education (Egypt), Open Book (UK), Educate Girls (India), We Love Reading (Jordan) and New Education Experiment (China).

The six winning projects will be announced in September and celebrated at the  sixth Wise summit 2014 in November in Doha. Each winner will  receive $20,000.

 

 

 

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