The Future of Education Needs Builders

The 2026-2027 WISE Prize for Education invites education innovators to turn bold ideas into real‑world impact.
By Dr. Asyia Kazmi, OBE, CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) | June 2026

As someone deeply engaged in improving learning outcomes and advancing education systems, I have seen firsthand how innovations can catalyze meaningful change when they are thoughtfully designed, pedagogically robust and diligently implemented. 

Every education system in the world—regardless of income level, geography, or history—is continuously under pressure to improve.

Some are striving to maintain a hard-won competitive edge; others are racing to improve from a low base. Some are tackling long-standing challenges of quality and relevance, most are responding to newer and faster-moving forces: digital transformation, artificial intelligence, climate anxiety, widening inequality, conflict, and displacement. For some, the focus is the early years; for others, it is foundational learning, TVET, higher education, or lifelong learning. Some are working to strengthen identity, language, and culture; others to protect learner wellbeing, modernize pedagogy, or prepare young people for jobs that do not yet exist.

Different contexts. Different priorities. One shared reality.

All of this work is happening at a time of dramatic global turbulence—shrinking public budgets, rising needs, and growing uncertainty about the future young people are inheriting. Improving education, life, and learning outcomes under these conditions is not just a question of incremental reform. It demands creative thinking and innovation: a deep understanding of the problem, evidence-informed design, disciplined experimentation, and a relentless focus on impact.

So which of these issues are you focused on? Or is a better question: how many of these issues are you tackling simultaneously? What are you doing to improve education systems? Perhaps you have a proven track record, and a new idea you are keen to build and test out? 

This is where the WISE Prize for Education comes in.

The WISE Prize: Incentivizing What Education Needs Most

The WISE Prize for Education was redesigned in 2024 to enable impactful education organizations to build, test, and refine bold novel solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing education systems today.

The WISE Prize is not an award for polished pilots or finished products. It is an investment in credible organizations with a strong track record of delivery and impact—organizations ready to focus on a new high-potential educational idea, pressure-test it in the real world, and improve it through evidence and iteration.

Many organizations that are eligible to apply for the Prize are already doing impactful work all around the world. What the Prize does, through the finalist development grant and the capacity building program, is to give the space for these organizations to allocate time and resources towards a high-potential innovative solution. 

The 12+12 WISE Prize model 

Finalist organizations in the 2026–2027 cycle will receive over USD 100,000 and 12 months to develop a minimum viable solution. Winning organizations will then share USD 1 million to further refine, strengthen, and scale their solutions over an additional 12 months. Throughout the journey, participants benefit from technical support, mentorship, and visibility on a global stage. The  design of this model underscores the commitment of WISE to sustained impact rather than short-term recognition.

The Prize is open to organizations from any country, working at any level of the education system – from early childhood through primary and secondary education, TVET, and higher education.

Five Areas Where Progress Matters Most

The 2026–2027 WISE Prize for Education targets solutions that address the challenge of delivering significant and measurable improvements in learning and/or life outcomes – with the focus on five thematic areas, each with a clear expectation of improving learning or life outcomes:

Culture and language preservation – strengthening identity, belonging, and engagement
Marginalized and crisis-affected learners – expanding access and equity
Foundational skills – building literacy, numeracy, and core competencies at primary and secondary levels
Learner wellbeing – supporting mental, emotional, and physical health
Future readiness and responsible AI – preparing learners for a rapidly changing world

These themes recognize a central truth: educational progress today must simultaneously advance equity, quality, relevance, and ethical responsibility.

An Invitation to Lead

As the pace of change accelerates, education systems cannot afford to just react to crisis. They must lead – shaping how technology is used, how inclusion is deepened, how cultures are sustained, and how children and young people are supported to flourish.

If this vision resonates with you – if your organization has demonstrated impact and is ready to build and test a novel solution with the potential for scale – we want to hear from you.

The WISE Prize for Education exists to support those prepared to turn informed ambition into ideation, learning into action, and action into replicable, testable solutions the world urgently needs.

As we kick off a new cycle, I invite all education innovators to apply now for the 2026–2027 WISE Prize  for Education to lead innovation and transformation in the education world.