Two trailblazing UAE schools named in Top 10 shortlists for World's Best School Prizes 2024

• Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills named in Top 10 shortlist for World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action
• GEMS Legacy School named in Top 10 shortlist for World’s Best School Prize for Supporting Health Lives

UAE: June 13, 2024 Two inspirational UAE schools have been named in the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2024. The five World’s Best School Prizes, founded by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, and the Lemann Foundation, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes. This year’s winners will share a $50,000 prize fund and will be invited to the World Schools Summit, to be held in Dubai on November 23-24, 2024.

Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills, an independent kindergarten through secondary school in Dubai, UAE, which empowers students with programmes like personalised learning pathways and project-based learning, driving community change through culturally responsive education and sustainability projects, has been named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action.

GEMS Legacy School, an independent school in Dubai, UAE, which is a pioneer in comprehensive wellness in education, impacting over 6,285 students with initiatives like school-wide fruit breaks and sleep hygiene workshops, promoting holistic wellbeing and sustainable lifestyle choices, has been named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Supporting Health Lives.

The five World’s Best School Prizes - for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – were established in the wake of COVID in 2022 to give a platform to schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and far beyond their walls, sharing their best practices to help improve education everywhere.

The winners of the five Prizes will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria. 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 and solve the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.  

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 UAE schools like Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills and GEMS Legacy School, 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.”

Jill Huntley, Managing Director – Global Corporate Citizenship, at Accenture, said:

“Congratulations to Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills in the UAE on being named among the Top 10 finalists for the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action 2024. Your vital work brings hope that solutions can be found to some of the greatest challenges we face today. Through the platform of the World’s Best School Prizes, your solutions will now inspire countless others across the globe from the classrooms to the administration. 

“Accenture is proud to be a part of T4 Education’s initiative in empowering the next generation to tackle global sustainability challenges by increasing access to and use of the latest technologies and innovative practices.”