By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: A UK-based activist has walked away with the coveted fourth $500,000 ‘WISE Prize — a ‘Nobel’ for Education’ — for her outstanding campaign that provides millions of underprivileged girls in sub-Saharan Africa access to education.
H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser presented the award to Ann Cotton at the sixth World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), which began at Qatar National Convention Centre here yesterday.
Announcing the WISE Prize laureate for this year, Sheikha Moza said, “By recognising the dedication of true education pioneers and showcasing their innovation, the goal of the WISE Prize is to raise the status of education in the global agenda. Our WISE Prize for Education laureates stand as examples of what is possible. By celebrating their achievements, we aim to inspire millions more social entrepreneurs, advocates and education innovators who deliver solutions one child, one village, one town at a time.”
Ann launched the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) to improve opportunities to children deprived of education in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Camfed International, which began in 1993, supports girls in rural communities in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
More than three million children in the poorest areas of these countries have benefited from the innovative education programme.
The campaign, based in Cambridge in the UK, provides bursaries to help girls stay in school, paying school fees or buying textbooks and uniforms.
“I want to dedicate this prize to all those girls in Africa who were able to exercise their right to education and to those girls who even as we sit here, fetch and carry water and wood and have no idea that the WISE prize is going to change their life,” said Ann on receiving the award.
“Along with its pride and prestige, it also carries a financial prize, and that financial prize we are committing to secondary education for girls. We have committed to support further one million girls in secondary education over the next five years in Africa. We believe that secondary education is absolutely fundamental,” she said.
An international jury with prominent educationists including Dr Monique Canto Sperber, Julia Gillard, Androulla Vassiliou, Professor Zhou Qifeng, Dr Michèle Pierre-Louis and Dr Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, Chairman of WISE, picked the WISE Prize winner for this year.
This year’s WISE event is being held under the theme ‘Imagine-Create-Learn: Creativity at the Heart of Education.
It has set up a Creative lab, showcasing transforming trends in education.
“Nearly 60 million children and young people around the world still lack access to school, particularly in fragile states, and the regions of conflict and further 250 million are at risk of leaving school without basic literacy and numeracy skills,” said Dr Al Thani.
“Education challenges are not limited to the developing world, but common for all, that is why education needs to be competitive. “There is an urgent need to close the gap between the education we have and the education we need,” he said.
The annual summit since 2009 offers this year an opportunity for more than 1500 participants from 100 countries to collaborate, share efficient practices and challenge their thinking during interactive plenary sessions and debates.
Focus sessions highlight innovative practices or projects, along with workshops to facilitate collaboration on specific issues. The three-day summit ends tomorrow.
THE PENINSULA
