The Future of Education Needs Builders
The 2026-2027 WISE Prize for Education invites education innovators to turn bold
ideas into real‑world impact.
As someone deeply engaged in improving learning outcomes and advancing education systems, I
have seen firsthand how innovations can catalyse meaningful change when they are thoughtfully
designed, pedagogically robust and diligently implemented.
Every education system in the world, regardless of income level, geography, or history, is
continuously under pressure to improve.
Some are striving to maintain a hard-won competitive edge; others are racing to improve from a low
base. Some are tackling long-standing challenges of quality and relevance, most are responding to
newer and faster-moving forces: digital transformation, artificial intelligence, climate anxiety, widening
inequality, conflict, and displacement. For some, the focus is the early years; for others, it is
foundational learning, TVET, higher education, or lifelong learning. Some are working to strengthen
identity, language, and culture; others to protect learner wellbeing, modernise pedagogy, or prepare
young people for jobs that do not yet exist.
Different contexts. Different priorities. One shared reality.
All of this work is happening at a time of dramatic global turbulence, shrinking public budgets, rising
needs, and growing uncertainty about the future young people are inheriting. Improving education,
life, and learning outcomes under these conditions is not just a question of incremental reform. It
demands creative thinking and innovation: a deep understanding of the problem, evidence-informed
design, disciplined experimentation, and a relentless focus on impact.
So which of these issues are you focused on? Or is a better question: how many of these issues are
you tackling simultaneously? What are you doing to improve education systems? Perhaps you have a
proven track record and a new idea you are keen to build and test out?
This is where the WISE Prize for Education comes in.
The WISE Prize: Incentivising What Education Needs Most
The WISE Prize for Education was redesigned in 2024 to enable impactful education organisations to
build, test, and refine bold novel solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing education
systems today.
The WISE Prize is not an award for polished pilots or finished products. It is an investment in credible
organisations with a strong track record of delivery and impact, organisations ready to focus on a
new high-potential educational idea, pressure-test it in the real world, and improve it through evidence
and iteration.
Many organisations that are eligible to apply for the Prize are already doing impactful work all around
the world. What the Prize does, through the finalist development grant and the capacity building
program, is to give the space for these organisations to allocate time and resources towards a high-
potential innovative solution.
The 12+12 WISE Prize model
Finalist organisations in the 2026–2027 cycle will receive over USD 100,000 and 12 months to
develop a minimum viable solution. Winning organisations will then share USD 1 million to further
refine, strengthen, and scale their solutions over an additional 12 months. Throughout the journey,
participants benefit from technical support, mentorship, and visibility on a global stage. The design of
this model underscores the commitment of WISE to sustained impact rather than short-term
recognition.
The Prize is open to organisations from any country, working at any level of the education system,
from early childhood through primary and secondary education, TVET, and higher education.
Five Areas Where Progress Matters Most
The 2026–2027 WISE Prize for Education targets solutions that address the challenge of delivering
significant and measurable improvements in learning and/or life outcomes, with the focus on five
thematic areas, each with a clear expectation of improving learning or life outcomes:
- Culture and language preservation, strengthening identity, belonging, and engagement
- Marginalised and crisis-affected learners, expanding access and equity
- Foundational skills, building literacy, numeracy, and core competencies at primary and secondary
levels - Learner wellbeing, supporting mental, emotional, and physical health
- Future readiness and responsible AI, preparing learners for a rapidly changing world
These themes recognise a central truth: educational progress today must simultaneously advance
equity, quality, relevance, and ethical responsibility.
An Invitation to Lead
As the pace of change accelerates, education systems cannot afford to just react to crisis. They must
lead, shaping how technology is used, how inclusion is deepened, how cultures are sustained, and
how children and young people are supported to flourish.
If this vision resonates with you, if your organisation has demonstrated impact and is ready to build
and test a novel solution with the potential for scale, we want to hear from you.
The WISE Prize for Education exists to support those prepared to turn informed ambition into
ideation, learning into action, and action into replicable, testable solutions the world urgently needs.
As we kick off a new cycle, I invite all education innovators to apply now for the 2026–2027 WISE
Prize for Education to lead innovation and transformation in the education world.
By Dr. Asyia Kazmi OBE, CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)
Responses