The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani presenting the WISE Prize for Education to Dr Madhav Chavan in Doha yesterday. The Laureate received an award of $500,000 and a gold medal.
By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: An Indian educationist has walked away with the coveted Second $500,000 ‘WISE Prize — a ‘Nobel’ for Education’ — for his exemplary initiative that provides millions of underprivileged Indian children access to basic education.
The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani presented the award to Dr Madhav Chavan at the fourth World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) which began at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) here yesterday. H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser inaugurated the Summit.
In her opening address, Sheikha Moza stressed that education was the basic right of all humans and said that inter-disciplinary education was the education of the future.“We live in a world where no single person can dictate a module of education to the world. We need multi-disciplinary education for the future,” she said.
Dr Chavan is the founder of ‘Pratham’, an organisation that reaches three million primary school-age children in India every year. He was awarded with $500,000 and a gold medal for his innovative contribution to education.
“Some 25 years ago I saw that new thinking was needed to improve the lives of the millions underprivileged in my country. Many individuals and organisations have contributed to what has been achieved and I share this tribute with them,” Dr Chavan told reporters right after receiving the award.
“It is an enormous honor for me to be recognised by this unique community of innovators, and I hope to perform my duties as a global ambassador for education to the best of my ability. I’m genuinely happy and excited about WISE. Commonly global agendas move in or towards the west, and WISE is moving towards the south and that’s where it should move,” he said.
An international Jury with prominent educationists such as Dr James Billington, Librarian of the US Congress, Prof Zhou Qifeng, president of Peking University, Mary Robinson, former UN high commissioner, Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Fatma Rafiq Zakaria, Chairperson of Maulana Azad Educational Trust in Aurangabad, India and Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, Chairman of WISE, decided the WISE Prize winner of this year.
“Madhav Chavan serves as an inspiration to all of us. His story combines the passion of a social entrepreneur with the patience and method of a scientist,” said Dr Al Thani.
“His approach shows that the most important resources for successful innovation are a clear vision, determination and the ability to apply unrecognised capacities to a shared cause,” Dr Al Thani added.
“He has brought light into the lives of many millions of people and I congratulate him on his remarkable achievement,” Dr Al Thani added.
Dr Chavan, a former lecturer, after completing a PhD in the USA, returned to India in 1986 to teach Chemistry at Mumbai University. However after realising that education was the main barrier to India’s development and that action is required to overcome the situation, he looked for a solution and joined hands with the Unicef and the government to ensure that ‘every child in school and learning well.’ This led to the formation of Pratham as an independent charity in 1994.
Pratham started with a simple method by holding pre-education classes for children in Mumbai’s slums.
Volunteers were recruited to teach in spaces within communities, including temples, offices, and even people’s homes. It is the largest non-governmental provider of basic literacy and numeracy for underprivileged children in India.
The organisation now has activities in 17 of India’s 28 states. It has supporting chapters in the US, UK, Germany and UAE.
Some 1,200 innovators from over 100 countries are attending the Summit. Sheikha Moza recalled the 2011 WISE prize that was awarded to Bangladesh’s ‘Brac’ Institution ‘s founder Fadel Hassan Obeid for setting up ‘floating schools’ in marshy areas of the country where teaching children was considered impossible before Obeid’s novel initiative.
“Last month, when I visited one of these schools, to have a close look at the project, I was astonished by the unlimited human capacity to challenge difficulties and tame natural conditions,” she said. That’s the role of WISE, she said, “which we look forward to expanding in creating a relationship of communication and knowledge between the tough issues and those who are capable of innovating effective solutions”.
The Peninsula
