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Deadline for 2021 Commonwealth education awards extended

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 02 Jul 2020

The deadline to enter the 2021 Commonwealth education awards for good practice has been extended to 31 August.

Exceptional educators, education institutions and organisations that have developed cutting-edge-learning and teaching tech projects are invited to submit entries for the 2021 edition of the Commonwealth education awardsfor good practice.

The awards highlight and recognise the quality and diversity of learning systems, resources and spaces in 54 Commonwealth member countries.

By recognising excellence and innovation, the initiative says it hopes to support creative education and learning projects that are being conducted in the 54 member countries, highlighting the key role of education and learning in achieving sustainable development.

Established by the Commonwealthin 2006, the awards seek to recognise the outstanding work and achievements of education professionals that have improved the well-being of learners.

“In the context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its unprecedented impact, we understand that the education sector is going through severe disruptions across the world,” says head of the Commonwealth's Social Policy Division, Layne Robinson.

“We recognise that individuals and organisations may not have had the necessary time or resources to submit their entries within the current deadline for the Commonwealth education awards. With that in mind, we are extending the deadline to 31 August to accommodate the extra time needed for submissions.”

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries. It is home to 2.4 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries.

The awards are open to exceptional education institutions, teachers and school leaders leading innovative learning and teaching projects. They can enter as many as six categories, which include: Rethinking education for innovation, rethinking education for work, rethinking education sustainability, education as pathways to peace, education for inclusion, and Commonwealth outstanding teacher or school leader.

This year, the awards focus on seeking entries that have worked towards addressing barriers to providing quality education for all, including marginalised groups.

According to the organisation, a pan-Commonwealth panel will judge the entries. Two winners for an outstanding educator and an innovative project will be shortlisted across the six categories.

The winners will be funded to travel to the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Kenya next year to receive their awards and showcase their work to ministers, senior officials, policy experts, practitioners, teachers and students.

Entries will be scored on their relevance to the local context, measurable impact, sustainability and innovation, efficiency and effectiveness, community involvement, and ability to be replicated.

Educators must be Commonwealth citizens and projects must be running in at least one of the 54 member countries.

Applications can be submitted here.

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