Six finalists for 2024-25 WISE Prize for Education

The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation, has announced the six finalists for the 2024-25 WISE Prize for Education.

This year’s competition, focused on innovative solutions to global education challenges, received 427 applications.

A committee of international experts evaluated the submissions to identify the six most promising solutions.

These finalists – AprendoEnCasa Connecta from Chile, Bonocle from Qatar, Darsel from the US, FastTrack+ from Nigeria, iqrali.jo from Jordan, and TUMO Path from Armenia – stand out for their ability to address the competition’s three key areas: accelerating foundational literacies, addressing challenges in artificial intelligence, and improving the teaching of Arabic language.

The WISE Prize attracted an array of applications, showcasing the breadth and innovation of education solutions globally.

With organisations representing government, nonprofit, and private sectors, and a strong representation from countries including India, Nigeria, and Qatar, the competition attracted submissions addressing inclusive learning, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools, voice-generated learning, tailored approaches for neurodivergent learners, and teacher development.

Finalists demonstrated capability to solve the challenge through evidence-based innovation, coupled with a well-structured minimum viable product proposal and timeline, clear resource allocation, and considerate manpower planning.

AprendoEnCasa Connecta by Fundacion ReImagina supports effective teacher-student interactions by providing a range of digital resources and tools designed to bridge educational and digital gaps, helping students thrive in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

AprendoEnCasa will pilot in Latin America, focusing on improving teacher engagement and learning outcomes in Chile, Ecuador, and Mexico.

Bonocle by Bonocle is an innovative solution leveraging technology to improve Braille literacy for visually impaired individuals.

Through tactile feedback and gamified learning, Bonocle makes education accessible, engaging, and enjoyable for the visually impaired globally.

Darsel by Darsel uses AI-powered personalised learning algorithms to improve numeracy for middle school students via accessible messaging platforms like SMS and WhatsApp.

The solution is aimed at students in low-resource settings, and plans to expand its reach to primary school learners in Africa and the Middle East.

FastTrack+ by AREAi addresses literacy and numeracy challenges by leveraging offline, self-assisted technology.

The program, which utilises a digital pen, equipped with audio capabilities, and multilingual instructional materials, helps learners in refugee camps in Western and Central Africa to achieve higher literacy levels.

FastTrack+ has shown significant success in improving reading and numeracy skills in pilot studies, with more than 80% of learners gaining basic literacy.

Meanwhile, iqrali.jo by Queen Rania Foundation, a Jordan-based initiative, focuses on parental behaviour change to improve early childhood literacy through shared reading practices.

The iqrali platform, currently in beta, provides resources and community support for parents of children aged under five, including refugee families.

TUMO Path automates the learning process for teenagers through hyper-personalised AI-driven learning journeys.

Already operational in 10 countries, the programme will expand further with the integration of new AI modules in Armenia, targeting more than 80,000 users by 2027.

Over the next 12 months, WISE and its chosen programme partner Dalberg Advisors will offer a range of capacity building opportunities and personalised mentorship to the chosen finalists.

In addition, WISE offers a conditional grant of $125,000 to each team to support the development of their MVP (minimum viable product) during this year-long commitment.

The winning solution(s), chosen by an external jury of international education experts, will be awarded the $1mn WISE Prize for Education at the WISE12 Summit in 2025, where the winner will be announced live.