The Education Good Practice Awards deadline has been extended to 16 February 2015.
The prestigious awards, which will be presented at the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) in The Bahamas, recognise programmes, policies, projects and strategies that have had a positive impact on students, teachers, or the education system of a country.
The winners will be funded to travel to the conference, which is attended by ministers, senior officials, teachers, students, technical experts, civil society and others involved in education in the Commonwealth.
Florence Malinga from the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Health and Education Unit, described the Awards as “an excellent opportunity for those working in education to network and to present their good practice at a high-level meeting.”
She said: “Sharing good practice ensures we capture the innovation and trends that are shaping education at a grassroots level, and enables us to tailor policies to the needs of our member states.”
The initiative, launched at the 16CCEM in 2006 to celebrate and promote good practice in education throughout the Commonwealth, was praised by ministers for highlighting positive and promising practices.
The first prize in the previous round was won by a community-based project from Rwanda, which judges felt addressed the immediate need for expansion of education after the devastation of the 1994 genocide.
The Education Good Practice Awards is open to Commonwealth education institutions, ministries and civil society organisations who are providing or promoting primary and secondary education in their country in one or more of the following eight action areas:
- achieving universal primary education;
- eliminating gender disparities in education;
- improving quality in education;
- mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS on education systems;
- supporting education in difficult circumstances;
- using distance learning to overcome barriers;
- using education to promote sustainable development - e.g. climate change education;
- and promoting civil paths to peace - e.g. respect and understanding
