Qatar Foundation’s WISE unveils new approach to its biennial “WISE Prize For Education”

The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) – Qatar Foundation’s global initiative for creative thinking, debate, and purposeful action in education – has unveiled a new approach to its prestigious WISE Prize for Education, aiming 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 recognizing exemplary work in the field of education to facilitating the development of breakthrough programs 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 organizations – 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. 

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 personalized learning tool to accelerate basic literacy and numeracy skills, particularly in under-resourced areas.
• Address challenges in A.I.: Design a tech-based intervention to equip youth with skills to navigate challenges of increasing presence in an A.I.-driven market and society, such as biases and disinformation.

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 rigorous 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 program will culminate at the next edition of the WISE Summit (WISE 12) in 2025, which will showcase the pioneering solutions. The finalists will compete for a USD 1 million prize to further advance their solutions and the selection will be made live at the summit.

Aurelio Amaral, Programs 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 organizations to design and deliver impactful solutions that can revolutionize 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 15 March, 2024, 17:00 GMT. 

Launched in 2009, WISE has recognized over 100 innovators globally for their outstanding contributions to education. To know more about the  WISE Prize for Education,  please visit: WISE Prize for Education – WISE (wise-qatar.org). To apply for the 2024-2025 WISE Prize, visit here.