UNESCO’S Executive Board agreement for the establishment of the prize

At the 172nd session of the Executive Board in 2005, after being informed that the proposed prize complied with UNESCO’s strategy and standards (documents 171 EX/19 and 171 EX/ 24), members agreed upon the establishment of the prize and its funding by the Government of Bahrain. In return, the Executive Board expressed its sincere appreciation to Bahrain for its initiative.

The 195th session of the UNESCO Executive Board was held in Paris on 15 September 2014 where, in accordance with Article 8 of the Statutes of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education (amended in 2009) and the Revised Overall Strategy for UNESCO Prizes (191 EX/12), it was decided to renew the prize, in its second edition, for a further six years. The prize was extended due to its key role in serving one of UNESCO’s most important goals, embodied by Sustainable Development Goal 4, which consists in ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

As noted in document EX 172/34, “The purpose of the prize is to reward projects and activities of individuals, institutions, other entities or non-governmental organizations for excellent models, best practice and creative use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance learning, teaching and overall education performance.”

The objectives of the prize are consonant with UNESCO’s goals and policies in advancing the understanding of the major contribution that ICTs make towards:

• Improving the quality of learning, teaching and overall educational performance in view of achieving Education 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs)
• Building inclusive, participatory and sustainable knowledge societies, with due regard to local content development and the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity
• Diminishing the negative impact of globalization, such as the growing digital divide

 These objectives conform with UNESCO’s policies, which aim to:

• Improve the quality of education through the diversification of content and methods and the promotion of universally-shared values
• Enable experimentation, innovation and the diffusion and sharing of information and best practices, as well as policy dialogue in education
• Ensure the contribution of ICTs to the development of education, science and culture, and the construction of a knowledge society

Initially the prize was awarded once annually for six years starting in 2006 before being renewed in 2014 for another six years. It consists of an award of USD50,000 to be shared equally between two laureates and is awarded to individuals, institutions, other entities or non-governmental organizations on the condition that the candidates have made a significant contribution to the creative use of ICTs in enhancing learning, teaching and overall educational performance.

As an indication of its appreciation of the laureates, the Government of Bahrain sends a high-level delegation including H.E. Minister of Education and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education as representatives of His Royal Highness the King to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to attend the Prize Ceremony at every year.

The ceremony is usually attended by the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO, Ambassadors to France, intellectuals, researchers, and selected UNESCO staff, as well as journalists.

• It is the only UNESCO prize which addresses ICTs, which is a contemporary field and has a direct impact on every aspect of modern life in this century.
• It is based on the concept of functionally linking education to technology in a way that will raise the quality of education and make it more responsive to the contemporary needs of society.
• The prize has succeeded in drawing the attention of thousands of scientists, researchers, educators, ICT specialists, teachers and managers, as can be seen in the high quality of submissions to the Jury, which reflect innovation and creativity.
• The main target audience of the prize is a wide range of high-level educators, researchers and practitioners in the fields of education and ICTs. They are concerned with disseminating education, improving its quality and finding ways to apply ICTs in education and achieve better outcomes in education.
• This prize enhances the prestige of the winners and reinforces the channels of exchange among practitioners in different parts of the world.

The Bahrain National Commission for UNESCO was created in 1967 and Bahrain officially joined the Organization after its independence in 1971. In its vision, programmes and directions, Bahrain is committed to the principles enshrined by UNESCO, including supporting basic education and disseminating it without discrimination between boys and girls, and it is committed to working for its development and enhancing its roles in building peace and supporting science, technology and a culture of tolerance, as well as all other fields that improve human welfare everywhere.