UAE offering $75,000 prize for early learning initiatives from Australia and beyond

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is seeking research, programs, methodologies, and advanced teaching practices in the field of early childhood education from all around the world, offering US$50,000 (AUD$ 75,000) prizes for solutions which meet their needs. 

The Khalifa International Award for Early Learning (KIAEL) seeks to transform early childhood education quality in the UAE, originating from the principled directives of the late Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa Award for Education.

 

Cluster Manager and Emirates Schools Establishment & Awarding Committee Member Fatma Ahmed Al Bastaki outlined that the KIAEL “exemplifies the desire of former UAE president, the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to encourage research and innovation in the early learning field by ensuring best practice implementation to guarantee the highest early childhood education quality.”

 

“The KIAEL intends to promote research and development and enrich the culture of excellence and innovation in early childhood education in the region and worldwide,” she added. 

 

“It aims to create a mechanism to discover and recognise research, programs, methodologies, and advanced teaching practices, acknowledge distinguished teachers, and activate the role of educational centres, institutions, and companies specialised in the field of early childhood education.”

 

As well as the points outlined above, the awards seek to raise awareness and focus attention on serving young children with disabilities in early childhood education, promoting the publication of distinguished studies, successful practices, and methodologies to improve early learning policy and practice in this area as well.

 

The Khalifa International Award for Early Learning exemplifies the desire of the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, to encourage research and innovation in the early learning field, ensuring best practice implementation to guarantee the highest early childhood education quality. KIAEL originates from the principled directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa Award for Education.

 

The long-term objective of the initiative is to create “new generations of leaders who possess the necessary knowledge and skills to help themselves and others realise their dreams and aspirations”.

 

Last year, nearly 300 applications were received from almost 60 countries across the two categories under the KIAEL - ‘Best Research and Studies Prize’ and ‘Best Programmes and Teaching Practices’. 

 

In the first category, Ms Al Bastaki explained that the KIAEL seeks to identify research on early childhood education and care that supports improvements in practice.

 

“This category includes studies that provide innovative solutions to problems, new insights into learning and teaching, and enriching the evidence base for policy and practice in ways that can lead to meaningful improvements in early learning,” she said.

 

“When it comes down to programmes and teaching practices, the KIAEL seeks to identify initiatives that aim to improve early learning in homes, informal care, or formal care and education with demonstrated improvements in quality and/or the learning and development of the young children served.”

 

In the Best Programs, Curricula, and Teaching Practices space four criteria must be met by nominees, namely: 

 

• innovativeness 
• importance 
• impact
• feasibility/sustainability.

 

“All programs submitted for consideration would have been subject to an evaluation of implementation or outcomes that provide evidence of programme implementation and potential or documented impacts on practice in early learning and on early learning outcomes,” Ms Al Bastaki said. 

 

The KIAEL Awarding Committee will select two winners for each award with a cash prize of USD $50,000 for each award. Applicants can be individuals, teams, or organisations from any country. If the winner is a team, the monetary prize will be shared equally among the team members. Only applications submitted in English will be accepted.

 

The awarding committee consists of decorated international researchers and professors, selected for their prestigious work in early learning, their academic qualifications in early childhood development and education, their status in the international academic community and their passion for making a difference in the area of their specialisation.

 

Judges include: 

 

• Dr Steven Barnett, founding Co-Director of the National Institute for Early Education and Board of Governors Professor of Education at Rutgers University 
• Fatma Ahmad Abdulla Al Bastaki, Project Manager, Chinese Expansion Project in UAE, Cluster Manager, Ministry of Education 
• Dr Jana Fleming, Director, Early Childhood Development 
• Salama Bint Hamdan, Al Nahyan Foundation 
• Dr Iram Siraj, OBE, Professor of Child Development and Education, University of Oxford  
• Dr Nirmala Rao
• Serena H C Yang, Professor in Early Childhood Development and Education, Chair Professor of Child Development and Education, and Director of the Consortium for Research on Early Childhood Development and Education (CORE), Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong (HKU).

 

The deadline for applications is 28 February 2023 with the winners to be announced in June 2023. Applications should be submitted through the online application system at https://el.khaward.ae/ or https://kiafel.khaward.ae/en-US/Account/Register before the application deadline.