Rising Academy Announced in the Top 10 Shortlist of T4 Education’s World’s Best School Prizes
Sierra Leone School, Rising Academy Waterloo, announced in the top 10 shortlist of T4 Education’s World’s Best School Prizes in the “Overcoming Adversity” category.
Minister for Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Hon. Mr. Conrad Sackey celebrates the schools “innovative use of technology and unwavering pursuit of excellence.”
The announcement comes as Rising Academy Network celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Thursday 13th June, 2024: Rising Academy Waterloo in Sierra Leone has today been shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes. Organised by T4 Education, the World’s Best School Prizes are the world’s most prestigious education awards, which recognise and celebrate the pivotal role schools play in our world.
Rising Academy Waterloo, an independent pre-school through secondary school on the outskirts of Freetown Sierra Leone and part of the Rising Academy Network, has been nominated in the “Over- coming Adversity” category. It is the first school in the country to have been shortlisted for an award. Founded in 2016 in the wake of the Ebola crisis, the school has defied the odds: doubling enrollment during periods of significant economic hardship and earning top marks in public exams while keeping fees below $1 per day.
Hon. Mr Conrad Sackey, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education commented, “I’m delighted to be able to congratulate you for being shortlisted for the prestigious World’s Best School Prize in the Overcoming Adversity Category. This recognition is a testament to your incredible work innovating and transforming Sierra Leone’s educational outcomes. Your commitment to overcoming challenges and fostering a thriving student environment is truly commend- able. Your innovative use of technology and unwavering pursuit of excellence have not only set a benchmark for educational institutions in Sierra Leone but have also inspired others to follow suit. In Sierra Leone, the government has committed to using technology to improve educational outcomes and ensure that every child has access to quality education. Your achievements serve as a shining example of what can be accomplished through perseverance, creativity and a focus on student suc- cess. I am proud to be part of the journey with you, congratulations again on a remarkable achieve- ment and I wish you the very best in your future endeavours.”
David Lammy MP, UK Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Develop- ment Affairs commented, “Congratulations to Head Teacher, Alpha Kamara and to all of the students, teachers and parents, as you become the first school in Sierra Leone to receive this accolade. I first visited Sierra Leone back in 2001 and, despite the many challenges the country has had to navigate since then, it continues to make progress. Congratulations once again to Rising Academy Waterloo and the educational reformers across Sierra Leone who have made this all possible.”
The impact of Rising Academy Waterloo has been felt far beyond its local community. Innovations developed and tested in the school have now reached over a quarter of a million students across Sierra Leone and beyond. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the school helped pioneer “Rising-on- Air”, a radio education programme to keep children kept out of school engaged and learning. This 20-week programme of radio lessons for all grade levels was selected by the government in Sierra Leone to be broadcast not only to parents in Freetown but to the whole nation and was also adopted by neighbouring West African countries.
The school has also become an innovation centre for Rising’s free-to-use, multi-award-winning AI- powered virtual maths tutor, Rori, which has already reached over 90,000 children via WhatsApp. Furthermore, the “RisingFaster” programme, designed and tested at Rising Waterloo to help children who had fallen behind catch up, has now been adopted by 700 public schools across Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Rwanda.
Paul Skidmore, CEO, said, “As Rising Academies celebrates our 10th anniversary, this is an incredibly proud moment not only for our exceptional team at Rising Academy Waterloo, but for our whole organisation. When we began this journey in 2014 it was hard to imagine that 10 years on, we would be supporting more than 250,000 students in 900 schools across Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda and Ghana. This has only been possible because of the incredible support of parents, teachers, school leaders and government partners. This is just the start. Our ambition is to work hand in hand with governments, local communities and education partners to raise the quality of learning and school- ing for millions of children across the continent in the next 10 years.”
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said, “Unless we solve the urgent challenges global education faces – from learning gaps exacerbated by COVID to chronic underfunding and the growing teacher wellbeing, recruitment and retention crisis – we will have failed the next generation. Trailblazing Sierra Leone schools like Rising Academy Waterloo, which have cultivated a strong culture and aren’t afraid to innovate, show the difference that can be made to so many lives. Schools everywhere can now learn from their solutions, and it’s time governments do so as well.”
The winners of the five Prizes will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous cri- teria. In addition, all 50 shortlisted schools across the five Prizes will also take part in a Public Vote, which opened today. The school which receives the most public votes will receive the Community Choice Award and membership to T4 Education’s Best School to Work programme to help them support teacher wellbeing.
To place your vote for Rising Academy Waterloo click here.
For more information please visit: https://www.risingacademies.com/ Or follow Rising Academies on LinkedIn, X, Facebook orInstagram.
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About Rising Academy Network
Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need them most.
Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And it works: independent studies show Rising sup- ported students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools.
We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®.
Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015.
Today, we serve 250,000 students across more than 700 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Rwanda.
For more information please visit: https://www.risingacademies.com/
About the World’s Best School Prize
We believe every child, everywhere, deserves a good education. We are building the world’s largest community of teachers and schools to achieve this. Together. Our digital media platform provides opportunities for educators to network, collaborate, share good practices, and support each other’s efforts to improve learning and school culture. We work to amplify teachers’ voices because the world we want to see will only be built by listening to those at the heart of education.
For more information please visit: https://t4.education/worlds-best-school-prizes/
Media Enquiries:
For more information please contact:
Katie Sloane
Communications Consultant, Rising Academy Network katie.sloane@risingacademies.com
+44 7762 856 094
