The World Innovation Summit for Education (Wise) announced the winners of the Wise Awards 2014 yesterday. Six projects were declared the winners for this year from 15 shortlisted projects from around the world.
The winning projects are The Song Room (Australia), Street Children: Reintegration through Education (Egypt), Me and My City (Finland), Educate Girls (India), We Love Reading (Jordan) and Alternate Education for Rural Development in Peru (Peru and Spain).
Fifteen projects from 14 countries had been shortlisted from hundreds of entries this year for their creative solutions to education challenges. All the finalist projects were selected for their innovative approaches and positive impact on education and society.
The jury, which included a number of leading figures in the field of education, was chaired by HE Sheikh Dr Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani, president of Wise.
“These initiatives demonstrate how transformative educational programmes not only bring real change to the classroom, but can also have a wider influence in communities and society,” he said.
The winning projects address a set of challenges facing education in terms of employment, creativity and access to education, literacy. They will be honoured during the sixth edition of the Wise summit to be held from November 4 to 6 in Doha.
The Song Room from Australia provides arts-based programmes enhancing the education, personal development and community involvement of the country’s disadvantaged children.
The project, Street Children: Reintegration through Education from Egypt aims at reducing the number of street children living and working on the streets of Cairo through the provision of child-friendly education and life skills.
Me and My City from Finland is a hands-on learning environment offering pupils positive experiences of entrepreneurship, the economy and society.
Educate Girls, an Indian project, aims to improve girls’ enrolment, retention and
academic performance in government schools through
community empowerment.
We Love Reading, a project from Jordan, aims to encourage children to read for pleasure through a cost-efficient, grassroots approach.
Alternate Education for Rural Development in Peru, from Peru and Spain, promotes the integration of rural work and school life to improve students’ employment prospects.
