Sheikha Moza awards WISE Prize for Education winners at WISE 12 Summit 2025

Doha, Qatar: Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, awarded the 2024-2025 WISE Prize for Education to three winners - global changemakers who are redefining how the world learns – as the WISE 12 Summit concluded.

Since its inception, the WISE Prize for Education – established by Qatar Foundation’s global education initiative WISE – has become one of the most respected international recognitions in education, honoring visionary individuals and organizations whose work delivers lasting, systemic impact for learners and communities worldwide.

Under its new structure that expands the impact of education solutions, six finalists were shortlisted for the accolade, with three winning educational solutions being chosen and awarded during the summit’s closing ceremony.

The winners collectively received a total prize fund of USD1 million, with USD500,000 awarded to TUMO in first-place, USD300,000 to the second-place, Iqrali.jo, and USD200,000 to the third-place winner, Darsel.

TUMO, headquartered in Armenia, is reimagining after-school creative learning experiences; Iqrali.jo, headquartered in Jordan, is a parental platform designed to support children’s Arabic literacy development; and Darsel, headquartered in the USA, provides AI-driven math tutoring in low-connectivity settings.

“Innovation has never been more critical for solving the global challenge of equitable, high-quality learning. WISE's vision of fostering high-impact solutions that work at scale inspired us to push boundaries and reimagine what's possible,” said Pegor Papazian, Chief Development Office at the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies.

“Being honored with the WISE Prize is deeply meaningful. We know it will open doors and amplify our impact worldwide. But the true prize was the transformative journey itself. Over 12 months, the WISE Prize process sharpened our focus, accelerated our development, and connected us with an invaluable network of peers and partners.

“As a result, TUMO's breakthrough AI co-learner platform is revolutionizing how young people learn. We're making education more accessible, adaptive, and effective,

empowering teenagers to overcome literacy barriers and bridge the digital divide. Using AI to teach AI, we're preparing a generation to thrive in tomorrow's world."

Bassem Saad, CEO of the Queen Rania Foundation, the organization that developed Iqrali.jo, said: “We are deeply proud to be one of the WISE Prize winners. This recognition crowns a meaningful journey with WISE, a journey of learning, collaboration, and shared belief in the power of education.

“Through Iqrali.jo, we enable parents to become active partners in their children’s learning journey. Our participation today reflects the shared commitment of Qatar Foundation and the Queen Rania Foundation to expanding this impact and ensuring that every child has the chance to thrive.”

Abdulhamid Haidar, Founder and CEO of Darsel, said: “Our participation in the WISE Prize program was incredible, and the support we received allowed to us to design, build, launch and evaluate an AI-powered chatbot that improves numeracy skills.

“Our research shows that our new solution is among the most cost-effective interventions that have been studied, so we’re incredibly excited that continued support from WISE will allow us to scale its impact, both in Jordan and around the world, and we expect over 1 million students to benefit before the next WISE Summit.”

Stavros N. Yiannouka, CEO of WISE, said: “Each year, the WISE Prize reaffirms that transformative educational change begins with individuals and organizations who dare to rethink what learning can be. These winning solutions demonstrate what is possible when innovation is grounded in evidence and committed to improving learning and life outcomes at scale.”

Aurelio Amaral, Director of Programs at WISE, said: “This year marks a transformative chapter for the WISE Prize for Education, which has evolved to support not only the winners, but all six finalists.”

“The three winning solutions work on the margins of formal education systems, but with an alignment in goals, complementing the learning needs of children and youth in creative ways.”

In this expanded model, each finalist was awarded USD125,000 to develop a Minimum Viable Product tackling urgent education challenges. Beyond funding, finalists benefited from tailored mentorship, technical guidance, and capacity-building led by WISE experts.

This inclusive approach ensures that every finalist progresses from concept to implementation with solutions spanning literacy acceleration, AI integration, accessible learning technologies, teacher development, and support for marginalized learners.

The six finalists represent diverse innovations from around the world. Alongside the winners, Bonocle, a Qatar-developed innovation, is pioneering the world’s first Braille entertainment and learning platform; Fast Track+, headquartered in Nigeria, supports refugee learners with foundational literacy progress, while AprendoLab, headquartered in Chile, creates AI-powered professional development programs that help teachers personalize instruction and improve learning outcomes.

Each finalist has worked closely with WISE experts over the past year to refine, validate, and scale out their solutions. The impact of these solutions extends far beyond their home countries, demonstrating the global relevance of their work.

These projects were showcased at the WISE 12 Summit that took place from 24-25 November 2025 at Qatar National Convention Centre.

“The WISE Prize is more than an accolade; it is a journey,” said Niamh Whelan, Program Lead at WISE. “We work hand in hand with every finalist to transform ideas into tested real-world models that make education more inclusive, equitable, and human-centered.”

As WISE looks ahead, preparations for the next cycle of the WISE Prize for Education will begin early next year. The upcoming phase will continue to build on the momentum of this year’s winners, ensuring that the Prize remains a global platform for advancing scalable, value-driven educational innovation.

The next selection cycle will follow the legacy of this year’s three winners, TUMO, Iqrali.jo, and Darsel, whose collective work reflects the Prize’s commitment to long-term, systemic transformation. Further details on timelines and application processes will be shared as the new cycle approaches.