A PHILIPPINE school made it as a Top 3 finalist for the new $250,000 World’s Best School Prizes, launched this year by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture and American Express.
Bonuan Buquig National High School, a public high school in Dagupan City, Pangasinan that restored lost mangroves to reverse the environmental devastation, landed third for the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action.
According to event organizers, the five World’s Best School Prizes—for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives—celebrate learning institutions for their pivotal role in developing the next generation of learners, and for their enormous contribution to society’s progress especially in the wake of the pandemic.
Aside from Accenture and American Express, the prizes were founded by T4 Education in collaboration with Yayasan Hasanah, Templeton World Charity Foundation, the Lemann Foundation, D2L, Mellby Gård, and Universidad Camilo José Cela to share best practices of schools that are transforming the lives of their students and making a real difference to their communities.
“[We are] proud to collaborate with T4 Education on the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action, which celebrates schools’ incredible efforts to empower the next generation to harness new technologies and innovative practices that tackle the global sustainability issues that impact us all,” Global Sustainability Services Lead and Chief Responsibility Officer Peter Lacy of Accenture said. “Through this prize, we aim to recognize the tools and techniques nurtured by schools and share them with a broad audience, enabling others to replicate their work and multiply the impact at speed and scale. Teachers everywhere will be inspired by the example of this outstanding Philippine school.”
“We are pleased to recognize students and educators who are taking action to protect the environment and their futures,” Head of Corporate Sustainability Madge Thomas of American Express said. “As we…work to advance climate solutions, we will continue to support programs and partnerships like this one to help build more climate resilient and equitable communities.”
Thomas furthered: “The World’s Best School Prizes surface the expertise of inspirational schools from every corner of the globe. It’s time for governments everywhere to listen to their voices.”
“As the world looks to rebuild from the…pandemic, far too many children will continue to be left behind—unless we see urgent action on education,” said Vikas Pota, who is the founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes. “Leaders must learn from the knowledge and experience contained within our schools, because those on the frontlines of education know better than anyone else the change we need to see.”
Reversing devastation
IN 2009 Typhoon Pepeng (international name Parma) left two-thirds of the city submerged in flood water. Fishponds, rice fields and other industries in the community were heavily damaged. The city government, aware of its geographical challenges on land that is only 1 meter above sea level, started to dredge rivers to reduce the impact of the flood, but it came with unintended consequences.
Bonuan Buquig National High School took action to support its students and save the local environment as it planted thousands of mangrove propagules each year, which have provided new habitats and shelter for fish. As a result, the mangroves along the banks of Longos River are nearly rehabilitated and stabilized.
The school also initiated a coastal clean-up in 2014, working with volunteers in the shorelines of Bonuan Beach. It also planted trees to rehabilitate a local dump site. Collected garbage was then classified and accounted for to determine the number of biodegradable and nonbiodegradable materials. Recyclables were upcycled as garden pots and decorations.
Should it be eventually recognized, Bonuan Buquig National High School said it will use the prize money as fund to build a nursery that could house around 50,000 mangrove seedlings a year, then push for much-needed research to improve techniques and technology on mangrove propagation and preservation.
Next steps
THE Top 3 finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes will now be entered into a public advisory vote, where the public has until October 2 to tell judges who they think should win each prize at worldsbestschool.org/
The Judging Academy, composed of distinguished leaders all across the globe including academics, educators, nongovernment organizations, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society and the private sector, will be presented with the results of the public advisory vote, and will assess the finalists based on rigorous criteria.
Winners will be announced on October 19 during World Education Week, where each will receive an award of $50,000.
All shortlisted schools in the five awards will share their best practices during the World Education Week through School Transformation Toolkits that showcase their “secret sauce” to innovative approaches, and step-by-step methods on how others can replicate their methods to help improve education everywhere.