Two innovative and holistic approaches to Education win the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize

The ceremony, that took place in Paris on March 7th, gathered over 500 participants –including high government representatives, private companies and experts– to attend the awarding designated by the international jury for their remarkable achievements.

The 2017 edition of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education have been focused on the use of ICTs to increase access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities, which will accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4. The two winners, chosen because the expression of this values and principles, han been Connected Learning Iniciative (CLIx) from India and Programme de Généralisation des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication pour l’Enseignement (GENIE) from Morocco.

The jury, selected by its geographical and technical diversity, have analyzed individually and collectively 143 applications coming from 79 countries for the 2017 edition of the Prize. Daniel Burgos, European representative, vice-chair of the international Jury and vice-rector of UNIR, highlights the common feature of the winners: they both increase the access to information and education thanks to ICT. Furthermore, not just the two winners but the other ten finalists support, encourage, foster and nurture that very access and, to some extent, the future of Education and the impact into the Society.

“Not just the two winners but the other ten finalists support, encourage, foster and nurture that very access and, to some extent, the future of Education and the impact into the Society”

The focus on innovative teaching and learning process, the attention to teacher engagement and profesional development or the production and use of data to track the results of the project are some of the highlighted aspects that have lead the jury to award the CLIx project. The other winner, Programme GENIE, have been recognised, among other factors, because its focus on equity, its large scale national policy and its good structure to coordination and sustainability. Both projects are based on intense collaboration and also have proven replicability in other regions.

Funded by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa AI-Khalifa Prize was established in 2005 to recognize innovations in teaching and learning that leverage technology to improve outcomes. Since then, the increasingly powerful capacities and lower costs of ICTs have led to the rapid diffusion of digital devices and applications, as well as to freely accessible digital content. Burgos, director of Research Institute for Innovation & Technology in Education at Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR iTED), also was the elected Chair of 2016 edition of the Prize.

Eva Ferreras

Unidad de Cultura Científica y de la Innovación

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To see more pictures: © UNESCO/Luis Abad-banda for the galery  http://www.unesco.org/new/en/africa-department/resources/photo-galleries/unesco-king-hamad-bin-isa-al-khalifa-prize-for-the-use-of-icts-in-education/