The WISE Prize for Education Established in 2011 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the WISE Prize for Education is the first distinction of its kind to recognize an individual or a team of up to six people for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. The WISE Prize for Education raises the status of education by giving it similar prestige to other areas for which international prizes exist --such as literature, peace, and economics. The WISE Prize for Education Laureate, announced at the annual Summit’s Opening Plenary Session, receives a gold medal and $500,000 (US). The 2014 WISE Prize for Education was presented to Ms Ann Cotton, Founder and President of Camfed. In 1993, Cotton founded the Campaign for Female Education, which sponsors programs designed and implemented by communities to fully suit their unique needs. The organization takes a holistic approach by working in partnership with all the constituencies that influence a girl’s education and life choices to break the cycle of poverty, child marriage, high birth rates, and high rates of HIV/AIDS. H.H. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, and Ms Ann Cotton, 2014 WISE Prize for Education Laureate. Innovative, community-led education programs have already benefitted over three million children in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Malawi, and are implemented across 5,085 partner schools in 115 rural districts. The 2015 Call for Nominations WISE welcomes nominations by individuals or institutions - including schools, international organizations and private companies - from anywhere in the world. Nominations should demonstrate how nominees have had a significant and lasting impact upon education at any level, and have displayed an inspiring and visionary approach. Nominations will be accepted from February 2 to March 31, 2015 Nominations should be submitted using the 2015 WISE Prize for Education online nomination system at www.wiseprizeforeducation.org The nomination process should be conducted with the highest degree of confidentiality: the subject should not be aware of the nomination. Self-nominations will not be accepted and only the Laureate’s name will be made public. The Selection Process Nominations will be screened by an expert Committee which will make a pre-selection of no more than 15 candidates, whose identities will not be made public. An international Jury of distinguished individuals will then consider these nominees and select the Laureate who will be announced at the 2015 Summit, November 3-5, 2015 in Doha, Qatar. The Laureates since 2011 Ms Ann Cotton, Founder and President of Camfed, United Kingdom: “We must learn from the girl in Zimbabwe who says, “We want quality education, because we are children of quality.” This is how we change the world. ” Dr. Madhav Chavan, Co-founder and CEO of Pratham, India: “Just as you need air, just as you need water, just as you need food, you need education.” Ms Vicky Colbert, Founder and Director of Fundación Escuela Nueva, Colombia: “Learning to be, learning to know, learning to do, and learning to live together, these form the basis for peace and democracy.” Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairman of BRAC, Bangladesh: “I am guided by an ideal of a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination. Education is the answer to this quest.” “ The WISE Prize was launched in 2011 to recognize individual and collective achievement in education – in the way that Nobel prizes recognize contributions to science and literature.” BBC News “The WISE Prize aims to place education on the same level as other disciplines such as medicine, the sciences, economics and the arts.” Press Trust India “The highlight of the Summit was the announcement of the winner of the WISE Prize for Education – the first such accolade in the field of education.” New African “There was no Nobel Prize for Education? Qatar Foundation has just invented it.” Le Monde www.wiseprizeforeducation.org