$1mn 'WISE Prize for Education' from 2025

The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) has announced a new approach to its WISE Prize for Education with the laureate winning $1mn from WISE Summit in 2025. The WISE Prize for Education laureate used to be awarded $500,000 each until the last summit held in 2023 along with a gold medal.
WISE is Qatar Foundation’s global initiative for creative thinking, debate, and purposeful action in education. The new approach to WISE Prize for Education aims to empower visionary innovators to develop groundbreaking solutions to perennial education challenges.
The next generation of the WISE Prize for Education shifts its focus from recognising exemplary work in the field of education to facilitating the development of breakthrough programmes or products with potential to transform global education systems.
Under this goal, the biennial cycle features a broader scope by inviting global innovators, leaders, and organsations - with a demonstrable track record in successful education-focused initiatives - to propose solutions to one of the three education challenges, to compete for the WISE Prize for Education.
Applications will be evaluated by an international committee of education experts against a set of criteria assessing applicants’ past achievements that showcase their ability to solve the challenge, their use of evidence-based innovation, and their proposal of a coherent minimum viable product timeline with resource allocation and manpower planning. The submissions will also be evaluated for their potential to adapt and scale across different contexts, in particular the Mena region.
After a rigourous screening process, a group of finalists will embark on their innovation journeys, benefitting from monetary support and tailored mentorship from WISE, to convert their proposed ideas into tangible solutions. The 12-month programme will culminate at the next edition of the WISE Summit in 2025, which will showcase the pioneering solutions. The finalists will compete for a $1mn prize to further advance their solutions and the selection will be made live at the summit.
The challenges include:
Improve the teaching of Arabic language: Develop a solution to improve the effectiveness of teaching, acquisition and use of the Arabic language.
Accelerate foundational literacies: Create a personalised learning tool to accelerate basic literacy and numeracy skills, particularly in under-resourced areas.
Address challenges in AI: Design a tech-based intervention to equip youth with skills to navigate challenges of increasing presence in an AI-driven market and society, such as biases and disinformation.
Aurelio Amaral, programmes manager at WISE, commented: “The 2025 WISE Prize for Education fosters actionable solutions and champions the cause of a more inclusive, sustainable and equitable future of education. WISE is pleased to take on a more active role in educational innovation by offering valuable guidance and vital resources to forward-looking individuals and organisations to design and deliver impactful solutions that can revolutionise education systems.”
The new WISE Prize for Education is committed to driving impact and excellence in the global education landscape. Under this new iteration, the WISE Prize will maintain a strong focus on capacity building and professional development. Selected teams will gain access to WISE’s growing network of global innovators, changemakers, and key education stakeholders, and participate in community events. Applications for the WISE Prize for Education are now open until March 15, 2024, 17 GMT.