Starting after the Civil War, this Ugandan school is in the top five in the world's world's best school prize

Wakadogo's Project Shelter in Uganda. (Source: Worlds Best School Prizes)

JAKARTA - A Ugandan school that started with two rooms after the civil war, as well as a Chilean public school teaching underprivileged children, are among the five winners of the $250,000 World's Best School Prize.

T4 Education, a platform for educators and schools, announced the winners in the online event.

The $250,000 prize will be divided equally among the five schools, with each receiving a $50,000 award.

Each came out on top in five different categories, such as environmental action, innovation, community collaboration, student health, and overcoming adversity.

Uganda's Wakadogo Shelter Project, founded in 2009 after two decades of civil war, won the World's Best School Award for overcoming adversity.

Escuela Emilia Lascar di Penaflor, Chili. (Sumber: World’s Best School Prizes)

Located in the remote village of Gulu, northern Uganda, the school has grown from having just two classrooms to educating over 450 students, with one of the highest student retention rates in the country.

Meanwhile, Dunoon Grammar School in Scotland was named the winner of the World's Best School Award for community collaboration. The school works to ensure students achieve their goals after school and connect them to work placements while developing their entrepreneurial skills.

Next is the Curie Metropolitan High School in Chicago, United States, which was named the winner for supporting healthy living. It offers integrated health services and programs to ensure students are healthy and safe.

The Bonuan Buquig National High School in the Philippines won the prize for environmental action. The school is taking action to replant the lost mangroves, to reverse the environmental damage that is affecting its students, as most of them live near fish ponds and coastal areas.

.

Dunoon Grammar School, Scotland. (Sumber: World’s Best School Prizes)

Lastly, there is Escuela Emilia Lascar in Chile who won the prize for innovation, for tackling the challenges of a pandemic by using the power of TV to help students focus on their studies.

Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education and the World's Best School Prize, said the competition was created to recognize the work and expertise of "pioneer schools from every corner of the world so that leaders can learn from their extraordinary stories."

"Too many children will continue to be abandoned after COVID-19 unless the government takes immediate action to address the education crisis", he said.

"As a first step, they must turn to the knowledge and experience contained in our schools. Because those who are at the forefront of education, know better than anyone about the changes we need to see", he said.

This award aims to share school best practices that change students' lives.