Der findes ingen nobelpris for uddannelse. Men en ny pris, der netop er blevet lanceret i denne måned, ser ud til at stræbe efter samme status.
The inaugural World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Prize was announced in Doha, Qatar, with the 2,7 million DKK award being given to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, whose work has brought education to millions of children in impoverished families, BBC online reports on Wednesday.
Sir Fazle, the first education “laureate”, has worked across decades and continents to help communities to escape the quicksand of poverty and to gain skills and self-reliance.
Created in Bangladesh in 1972, his Brac project – formerly the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee – is now claimed as the biggest non-governmental organisation in the world.
An estimated 10 million primary pupils have been taught in schools set up by Brac across 10 countries, in such tough territories as South Sudan and Afghanistan.
It’s a vast operation, running more schools in Bangladesh than the entire English school system, and it is claimed to be the “largest private, secular education system in the world”.
Working with the poorest, most disadvantaged rural communities, often blighted with conflict, exploitation and disease, this is the raw edge of education, with one-room classrooms and basic skills.
But speaking after the award, Sir Fazle told the BBC that the greatest challenge for global education applies as much to the more affluent countries as to the poorest. And that big problem, he says, is inequity, the stubborn link between family income and educational outcome.
