UAE schools urged to enter $250,000 World’s Best School Prizes 2023

Two UAE schools, Gems Legacy and Shining Star International, were shortlisted earlier this year

Project Shelter Wakadogo in Uganda won the World’s Best School Prize, launched by T4 Education in partnership with Accenture IT company, for overcoming adversity. All photos: World’s Best School Prizes

Located in a remote village in Gulu, northern Uganda, the school has grown from only two classrooms to educating more than 450 pupils.

Dunoon Grammar School in western Scotland was named the winner of the community collaboration category.

It aims to help pupils achieve their work ambitions, connecting them to work placements while developing entrepreneurial skills.

Bonuan Buquig National High School in Dagupan City, the island of Luzon, Philippines, won the world's best category for environmental action.

Curie Metropolitan High School in Chicago, US, was named the winner of the category for supporting healthy lives.

Escuela Emilia Lascar in Penaflor, central Chile, was named the world’s best school for innovation.

The school was recognised for overcoming the challenges brought by the pandemic through using the power of TV to help pupils focus on studies.

Schools in the UAE have been encouraged to enter the $250,000 World’s Best School Prizes 2023.

UAE businessman and social entrepreneur Badr Jafar, who is on the panel of judges for the prizes, called on schools in the Emirates and across the globe to enter the competition founded by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture and American Express.

A school in Uganda that started in two rooms after a civil war and a public school in Chile which teaches underprivileged children were among the five World’s Best School Prizes winners announced in October.

The $250,000 prize was shared equally among the five schools, with each receiving $50,000.

Schools are awarded across five different categories, including environmental action, innovation, community collaboration, supporting pupils' health and overcoming adversity.

Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said: “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 front lines.”

The awards aim to share the best practices of schools that are transforming the lives of pupils.

Two UAE schools were shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes earlier this year.

Gems Legacy School in Dubai was named in the top 10 shortlist for environmental action, while Shining Star International School in Abu Dhabi was named in the top 10 shortlist for innovation.

A top 10 shortlist for each prize will be announced in June 2023, followed by the top three finalists for each prize in September.

The winner of each prize will be chosen based on rigorous criteria by a panel of judges. Winners will be announced in October next year.

Students refilling their bottles from the water fountain at the Gems Legacy School in Dubai. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

Gems Legacy School has 16 water stations in place and is to install another 12 this year.

The school's first water fountains were introduced in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and it has now installed contactless water dispensers.

The water bottle project comes after Dubai's move to place a levy on single-use plastic bags.

Asha Alexander, Gems Legacy School principal, with a pupil who is refilling her bottle from a water fountain at the campus.

The principal said the school would also no longer accept any single-use plastic packaging or bags, as part of its environmental message to pupils.

Pupils at the school collect discarded plastic bottles from their homes and neighbourhoods for a project called 'Simply Bottles'.

Under this scheme, plastic bottles are collected, recycled and made into yarn that is used to make clothes.

Children are also going to restaurants near the school asking owners not to supply food in plastic bags.

Pupils are also being encouraged to pack lunch in reusable boxes as part of continuing environmental education at schools in the emirate.

“Our schools' teachers are uniquely placed to create the learning experiences that will empower future generations to thrive and ultimately create the world we want to live in," said Badr Jafar, chief of Crescent Enterprises and competition judge.

“The World’s Best School Prizes provides a powerful platform to showcase schools that continue to strive to bridge the gap between today’s curricula and the future needs of humanity and our habitat."

The prizes are open to all schools who teach pupils in compulsory schooling and are registered with their respective ministries 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 15.