Trailblazing Afghan school named in Top 10 shortlists for World’s Best School Prizes 2024
June 13, 2024
Kabul, Afghanistan
Enabled Children School named in Top 10 shortlist for World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity
An inspirational Afghan school has been named in the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2024. The five World’s Best School Prizes, founded by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, and the Lemann Foundation, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes and this year’s winners will share a $50,000 prize fund.
Enabled Children School, a charity-funded primary school in Kabul, Afghanistan, which is the country’s only school that offers education for children with all types of disabilities, physical and mental, has been named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity. It is the first school in Afghanistan ever to be shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes.
The five World’s Best School Prizes - for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – were established in the wake of COVID in 2022 to give a platform to schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and far beyond their walls, sharing their best practices to help improve education everywhere.
The winners of the five Prizes will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria. In addition, all 50 shortlisted schools across the five Prizes will also take part in a Public Vote, which opened today. The school which receives the most public votes will receive the Community Choice Award and membership to T4 Education’s Best School to Work programme to help them support teacher wellbeing and solve the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said:
“Unless we solve the urgent challenges global education faces – from learning gaps exacerbated by COVID to chronic underfunding and the growing teacher wellbeing, recruitment and retention crisis – we will have failed the next generation.
“Trailblazing Afghan schools like Enabled Children School, which have cultivated a strong culture and aren’t afraid to innovate, show the difference that can be made to so many lives. Schools everywhere can now learn from their solutions, and it’s time governments do so as well.”
About the school:
Enabled Children School, a charity-funded primary school in Kabul, Afghanistan, is the country’s only school that offers education for children with all types of disabilities, physical and mental. Its staff are carefully selected and trained to accommodate for these diverse learning needs. Established in 2020 amidst Afghanistan’s profound upheaval, the school confronts the dual challenges of systemic exclusion and the acute lack of educational opportunities for disabled children. The school was born out of a critical need to provide tailored educational pathways that not only cater to academic learning but also incorporate essential life-skills training, suitable to the Afghan context.
Catering to 88 students, the school’s mission is grounded in the belief that all children deserve inclusive education and the chance to participate fully in society. Despite facing ongoing threats such as government instability and societal stigma towards disabilities, Enabled Children School has created a safe and supportive learning environment. This resilience has allowed the institution to offer programmes that significantly enhance societal integration and acceptance of children with disabilities.
By integrating academic subjects with occupational and physical therapy within a nurturing environment, the school ensures each student receives personalised attention. Their comprehensive approach includes extensive family engagement and support services, promoting a broader cultural shift towards inclusivity.
Recent initiatives have successfully integrated 18 students into mainstream schools and facilitated vocational training for 10 others, ensuring they are welcomed, thereby illustrating the tangible impacts of the school’s programmes. Additionally, the school’s outreach has extended its influence, with a waiting list that includes 250 local students and requests from 1,350 students across other provinces.
Enabled Children School's approach involves extensive community engagement and strong partnerships. These efforts are supported by a commitment to staff training and family involvement, which are crucial for fostering an environment of acceptance and understanding.
Next steps:
The Top 3 finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes will be announced in September 2024 followed by the winners in November. The winner of each Prize will be chosen based on rigorous criteria by a Judging Academy comprising distinguished leaders across the globe including academics, educators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society, and the private sector.
A prize of US$50,000 will be equally shared among the winners of the five Prizes, with each receiving an award of US$10,000. Meanwhile, the winner of the Community Choice Award, as determined by the Public Vote, will receive membership to Best School to Work - an independent, evidence-based mechanism to certify schools for their culture and working environment. Membership comes with detailed feedback, actionable insights, and benchmarking data to help schools transform their culture to attract and retain the best teachers.
ABOUT T4 EDUCATION:
We believe every child, everywhere, deserves a good education. We are building the world's largest community of teachers and schools to achieve this. Together. Our digital media platform provides opportunities for educators to network, collaborate, share good practices, and support each other's efforts to improve learning and school culture. We work to amplify teachers’ voices because the world we want to see will only be built by listening to those at the heart of education.
For more information, please contact Salman Shaheen: salman@t4.education