Three innovative and inspiring schools from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were on Thursday named winners of World's Best School Prizes 2024, a record year for Indian schools, with two of them set to receive USD 10,000 each. Ryan International School in Delhi's Vasant Kunj, CM RISE School Vinoba in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam and Kalvi International Public School in Tamil Nadu's Madurai are among the winners of the prize.
While state-run kindergarten to secondary CM RISE School Vinoba won the prize in the Innovation category, independent kindergarten through secondary Ryan International School won the World's Best School Prize for Environmental Action. It is founded by London-based T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express and the Lemann Foundation.
Your innovative solutions will inspire countless others across the world to take the action necessary to safeguard the future of our planet, said Jill Huntley, Managing Director Global Corporate Citizenship at Accenture.
Meanwhile, Kalvi International Public School emerged the winner in the Community Choice Award category after attracting the most votes of all 50 schools shortlisted across the five World's Best School Prizes in a public vote. It receives membership to T4 Education's Best School to Work programme, which is designed to help schools attract and retain the best teachers by building great working environments.
For India to have not one but three schools triumph shows that the nation's institutions truly stand among the best in the world. It is my hope that governments now look to your shining examples to see what can be achieved when schools are committed to high performance and when education seeks to tackle some of the greatest challenges our societies face, said Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World's Best School Prizes.
CM RISE School Vinoba, originally founded for tribal girls in an urban slum community hesitant to embrace formal education, was recognised for innovative practices such as integrating education with local festivals and hosting early morning sports sessions. The school plans to use its prize money to expand its Learning and Development Lab.
Delhi's Ryan International School was recognised for tackling water scarcity and pollution through innovative projects like hydroponics and biogas plants. The school intends to use the prize money to expand its green technologies and establish a start-up incubator for student-led environmental projects.
Colegio Maria de Guadalupe in Argentina won the World's Best School Prize for Community Collaboration, Istituto Galilei-Costa-Scarambone in Italy won the prize for Supporting Healthy Lives 2024 and the First Ukrainian School in Poland by the Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation won the prize in the Overcoming Adversity category, chosen by an expert Judging Academy.