Smart desk: The school’s innovation aims to ease the heavy burden of the schoolbags carried by its pupils.
RECENTLY named a Top 3 finalist for the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation 2023, SK Seri Permai in Bayan Baru, Penang, now needs your vote for the competition’s new Community Choice Award.
The award, which is open to the 15 schools that make up the Top 3 finalists across all five World’s Best School Prizes, will be presented to the school that inspires the most support in a public vote, which began on Sept 12 and will end on Sept 26.
The national primary school is the only Malaysian school in the coveted list. The other 14 schools are from Brazil, South Africa, the United States, Colombia, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, New Zealand, India, Israel, and the United Kingdom.
According to a press release from the organiser T4 Education, the winner of the Community Choice Award will receive membership to its new Best School to Work programme, an independent, evidence-based mechanism to certify schools for their culture and help them transform their working environment to attract and retain the best teachers.Sk Seri Permai, which developed the Smart n Easy Table 2.0 (SnET 2.0) to ease the heavy burden of the schoolbags carried by its pupils, was announced as one of the Top 3 finalists for the World’s Best School Prizes on Sept 12.
The tables provide lockable drawers – one each for pupils of the morning and afternoon schooling sessions – as well as side compartments for water bottles and stationery, and space to store schoolbags.
The other two schools competing in the Innovation category are New Zealand’s Crimson Global Academy and India’s The Riverside School.
The World’s Best School Prize for Innovation award offers a prize of US$50,000 (RM234,425) for the winner, which will be announced in November.
The other four World’s Best School Prizes are for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives, respectively.
Founded last year by UK-based T4 Education in collaboration with Yayasan Hasanah, Accenture, American Express, and the Lemann Foundation, the prizes, worth a total of US$250,000 (RM1.17mil), celebrate schools everywhere for the pivotal role they play in developing the next generation of learners and for their enormous contribution to society’s progress, especially in the wake of Covid-19.
To vote, go to: https://vote.worldsbestschool.org/vote
