HONG KONG, CHINA - - December 10, 2017 - The world's largest education prize-
the inaugural laureates today accept
the awards and each receives a gold medal from The Honorable Mrs Carrie Lam
Cheng Yuet-ngor, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, GBM, GBS, at the Yidan Prize Award Presentation Ceremony held at Hong
Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Each of them will receive HK$30 million
(about US$3.87 million) to recognize their distinguished contributions to
global education and to help fund their future work.
Yidan Prize held its inaugural award presentation ceremony on December
10, 2017
(from left: Mr Clive Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Yidan
Prize Foundation; Carol S. Dweck, Yidan Prize for Education Research Inaugural
Laureate; The Honorable Mrs Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, GBM, GBS; Vicky Colbert, Yidan Prize for Education
Development Inaugural Laureate; Dr Charles Chen Yidan, Founder of the Yidan
Prize)
Welcome remarks by Dr Charles Chen
Yidan
Carol S. Dweck, Yidan Prize for
Education Research Inaugural Laureate
Vicky Colbert, Yidan Prize for
Education Development Inaugural Laureate Carol S. Dweck,
Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, the
United States, has received the Yidan Prize for Education Research. Her groundbreaking research on
the power of the "growth mindset", based upon the belief that intelligence is
not fixed and can be developed over time, has become an influential concept in
the field of education.
"It is a great honor to receive the
Yidan Prize for Educational Research and I accept it on behalf of my extraordinary
students and colleagues. It is their work as much as mine. It is critical for
educators to know that we cannot nourish the mind without the heart. We cannot
expect good learning--joyful and effective learning--to happen in a mind that is
disconnected from the heart. And we cannot expect our students to create the
world of tomorrow, the world that we hope for, without a heart-mind that
connects them to each other, to the larger society, and to the planet as a
whole," Dweck said.
Vicky Colbert,
founder and director of Fundación Escuela Nueva, Colombia, was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development. Her project Escuela Nueva
("New School" in Spanish) has improved the quality of education at rural public
schools in Colombia since the mid-1970s. The pedagogical model has also been
adopted by 14 countries, reaching over 5 million children.
"I am honored and
deeply moved to receive this prestigious education Yidan Prize for Education
Development. The recognition that we receive through this prestigious award is
a further motivation to continue our commitment to the cause of basic education
of high quality for all children. At Escuela Nueva Foundation, in Colombia and
many other countries of the world we work to establish affordable schools of
excellent quality where children, teachers and parents are empowered to learn
and contribute to a culture of peace and citizenship in their environment,"
Colbert said.
Each laureate receives a gold medal and
a total sum of HK$30 million (about US$3.87 million) including a cash prize of
HK$15 million (about US$1.9 million) and a project fund of HK$15 million (about
US$1.9 million).
Presenting the awards, The Honorable Mrs Carrie Lam said: "The
Yidan Prize gives us much to look forward to in education excellence. And for
this, I am grateful to Dr Chen, the Yidan Prize Foundation and the
international judging committee for their commitment to global education and
educators, and for their contribution to the sustainable development of the
world we live in. My congratulations again to this year's laureates, Professor
Dweck and Ms Colbert, for their distinguished achievements. Working together, I
know we can create a better world through education."
Dr Charles Chen Yidan, founder of the Yidan Prize, said: "Yidan Prize aims to empower educators to
transcend religion, race and nationality; to exert far-reaching, positive
influence over humanity; and ultimately, to help create a better world. I hope
that their practical experience and research findings can be applied more
extensively, expanding their impact, and benefiting more people."
The event was attended by prominent figures
including H.E. Dr Ahmed Al-Eissa, Minister of Education, Saudi Arabia; Cherie
Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women; Jaime Saavedra, Senior
Director, Education, World Bank Group; and among others.
The laureates are selected by a judging committee
chaired by Dr Koichiro Matsuura, former director-general of UNESCO, which
comprises two independent judging panels. Professor Paul Chu Ching-wu,
professor of physics, T.L.L., Temple Chair of Science, University of Houston,
heads the Yidan Prize for Education Research panel, and Dorothy K. Gordon,
former director-general of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in
ICT leads the Yidan Prize for Education Development panel.
Notes to editors:
About Yidan Prize
The Yidan Prize is founded by Dr Charles Chen
Yidan, the core founder of Tencent Holdings Limited. The Prize aims to
recognize and support change makers for their most forward looking innovation
that can create sustainable impacts on education systems for a better future.
The Prize comprises two categories - the Yidan Prize for Education Research and
the Yidan Prize for Education Development. The Prize is financed and governed
by a HK$2.5 billion (about US$320 million) independent trust. Each prize
carries an award of HK$30 million (about US$3.87 million), with a cash award of
HK$15 million (about US$1.9 million), a further HK$15 million (about US$1.9
million) project fund, and a gold medal. Through a series of initiatives, the
prize serves to provide a platform that allows the global community to engage
in conversation around education and to play a role in education philanthropy.
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