Malaysian schools encouraged to apply for World’s Best School Prizes 2023 offering $250,000 in prize money
Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah, Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari, and celebrity chef Abang Brian on the competition’s global judging academy
Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah, Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari, today urged outstanding schools from Malaysia and across the globe to apply for the $250,000 World’s Best School Prizes 2023 as applications opened.
Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari, and chef Abang Brian, are on the Judging Academy of the World’s Best School Prizes, founded by T4 Education in collaboration with Yayasan Hasanah, Accenture and American Express.
Last year, several Malaysians schools excelled in the plrizes in their inaugural year by reaching the finals with their respective project entries, with one school — Sekolah Kebangsaan Kempadang from Pahang — reaching the very last round of three among World’s Best School Prize for Innovation 2022. Meanwhile, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kampong Jawa from Selangor was named in the Top 10 shortlist for World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity 2022.
The five World’s Best School Prizes – for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – celebrate schools everywhere for the pivotal role they play in developing the next generation of learners and for their enormous contribution to society’s progress, especially in the wake of COVID.
Even before the pandemic, the UN warned the world was on course to miss its Sustainable Development Goal 4 of quality education for all by 2030. With over 1.5 billion learners impacted by school and university closures, that mountain has grown even steeper. The World’s Best School Prizes were founded as a grassroots solution to help build the systemic change needed. The prizes give inspirational schools a global platform, allow them to share their best practices, and help others replicate their innovative ideas.
Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari said:
“My father was a firm believer of the importance of education, and like him too, I believe that a good education is a pivotal turning point for every individual to reach their full potential. Yayasan Hasanah and our education partners have worked tirelessly in partnership with the Ministry of Education Malaysia and the education fraternity to improve the performance of students and schools by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of school leadership and teachers.
“Yayasan Hasanah is honoured and thrilled to partner with T4 Education on the World’s Best School Prizes – the most prestigious global education prize, celebrating the enormous impact our schools have on our society. I urge schools across Malaysia and all around the world to apply.”
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said:
“Every child left behind in the wake of the COVID pandemic is a child too many. Governments must take urgent action to tackle the global education crisis and ensure quality education is a right not a luxury. The best place to start is by working with schools at the interface to understand what works.
“We founded the World’s Best School Prizes to create the conversations that lead to lasting change. Conversations between educators learning from one another’s vital solutions, and conversations in the halls and corridors of power where leaders must sit up and listen to those on the frontlines.”
There are five Prizes schools can apply for:
1) The World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration
2) The World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action
3) The World’s Best School Prize for Innovation
4) The World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity
5) The World’s Best School Prize for Supporting Healthy Lives
A Top 10 shortlist for each Prize will be announced in June 2023, followed by the Top 3 finalists for each Prize in September. The winner of each Prize will be chosen based on rigorous criteria by a Judging Academy comprising distinguished leaders all across the globe including academics, educators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society, and the private sector.
The winners will be announced in October 2023. A prize of US$250,000 will be shared equally among the winners of the five Prizes, with each receiving an award of US$50,000.
The shortlisted schools across the five Prizes will share their best practices through virtual seminars and showcase their “secret sauce” through School Transformation Toolkits with step-by-step instructions on how others can replicate their innovative approaches to help improve education everywhere. These will be available on the new T4 Communities app.
The Prizes are open to all schools who teach students in compulsory schooling, and are legally registered with their respective Ministry of Education or government regulatory authority, including early childhood centres, kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, and online schools.
Schools can apply online at worldsbestschool.org
Applications close on March 15th, 2023, at 11.45pm GMT.
