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Education Contest

SA minister to judge international education contest

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:00

Five prominent international figures will select the winner of the world’s first major international prize for education.

The WISE Prize for Education was announced by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, at the conclusion of the second World Innovation Summit for Education in Doha, Qatar, in December 2010. The first Laureate will be named at WISE 2011 in November.

The Jury members are:

• H.E. Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology, MP, South Africa

• Dr James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress, USA

• Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, USA

• Mrs Fatma Rafiq Zakaria, Chairman of the Maulana Azad Educational Trust, India

• H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, PhD, Chairman of WISE, Qatar Foundation, Chairman of the Jury

The WISE Prize for Education will reward an individual or team for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. The Laureate’s achievements should have had a significant, lasting impact upon education at any level, and should demonstrate an inspiring and visionary approach.

The Prize will support the WISE mission of raising the status of education internationally by establishing an award of similar standing to those that already exist in other fields such as science, literature, peace and economics. The winner will receive $500,000 and a gold medal.

Nominations are invited until the end of April from individuals and institutions such as universities, schools, NGOs, teachers’ organisations, the media and private corporations.

From mid-July to mid-September 2011, the Jury will examine the candidacies of 15 finalists pre-selected by a committee responsible for screening all submissions.

Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Chairman of WISE, Qatar Foundation, explains: “As Chairman of the Jury, I am pleased to welcome this group of eminent people to form the WISE Prize for Education Jury. They have been selected because of their international vision, professional achievements and expertise. I believe their rich experience and diverse competencies will enable us to identify a Laureate of the highest calibre, and the WISE Prize for Education will become the world standard for achievement in this field.”

Qatar Foundation inaugurated the World Innovation Summit for Education - WISE - in 2009 to harness the knowledge, skills and experience of multiple stakeholders in addressing the challenges facing 21st-century education.