Six projects from around the world have been selected by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) for innovative and impactful approaches to today’s most urgent education challenges.
As Pakistan faces numerous challenges in the education sector, these award-winning projects can inspire our educationists, technologists and policymakers to bring about a positive change in learning and innovation landscape.
WISE, established by Qatar Foundation in 2009, is an international, multi-sectoral platform for creative, evidence-based thinking, debate, and purposeful action in education. Through the biennial summit, collaborative research and a range of on-going programs, WISE is a global reference in new approaches to education.
Here is the description of the award-winning projects.
42 (France / US) – This is a free computer programming training programme open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 30, whether they possess an academic degree or not.
According to Wikipedia and school’s website, the programme focuses on project-based, peer-to-peer learning. This tuition-free computer programming school created and funded by French billionaire Xavier Niel (Founder of the telecommunication company Illiad) with several partners was first opened in Paris in 2013.
Any person between 18 and 30 can be registered for the school after completing the logical reasoning tests on the website. There is no traditional faculty at the school; no diploma or degree is issued and is open 24/7. The training methods include peer-to-peer pedagogy and project-based learning.
All the intellectual property belongs to the students. 42’s name is a reference to the science fiction book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy written by British author Douglas Adams: in the book, 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. In addition to the two official campuses in Paris, France and Fremont, California, the school model was adopted in Romania, South Africa, Ukraine, and Bulgaria with the help and support of 42.
