For SEAMEO INNOTECH, innovation in education remains the lifeblood of the Center’s programs and services. Innovation has gained renewed prominence in today’s challenging environment, generally viewed as the single most important driver for growth in the new economy. The revitalized Southeast Asian Educational Innovation Award honors the work of the various innovators in the field and recognizes the positive impact made among learners and the communities served. Through the award, we hope to highlight exemplary achievements and set a platform for sharing knowledge of such innovations to encourage productive exchanges among education players in the region. It further seeks to build sustained interest in innovations for improving education outcomes and service delivery.

Deadline of nominations: 30 August 2021

Objectives

The Southeast Asian Educational Innovation Award seeks to recognize achievements of teachers, community education workers and other education workers that made a difference in the lives of the learners and communities through the creative application of an idea into practical reality. These may involve the novel and creative use of tools, concepts, processes or their combinations to produce new and better results. The innovative practices, developed and applied by teachers and community education workers through various projects, activities and initiatives that brought on positive impact on learners and the communities are highlighted and shared among other education workers.

The award aims to

1. Honor and give recognition to educators and development workers in Southeast Asia who made exemplary achievements in introducing and applying innovative practices;

2. Seek out and document innovative practices and the context in which innovations led to achievement of learning goals overcoming limited resources and operational constraints;

3. Highlight examples of effective innovative teaching and learning practices as examples for other education workers; and

4. Encourage interaction and cooperation among education workers across the region through the dissemination of the award-winning innovations.

Theme

The theme for the FY 2021-2022 Award Cycle is “Educational Innovations in the Time of Covid: Exploring Possibilities and Improving Learning for All.”

The Covid 19 pandemic is perhaps the single greatest disruption in Southeast Asian education over the past half-century. From initial emergency responses through gradual recovery, the education sector has endeavored to work around the constraints and to continuing education services to meet the basic learning needs. Responding to multiple challenges, teachers, school managers and community based education workers harnessed the power of innovation to meet these challenges and work towards better services for the future.

The 2021-2022 SEA Educational Innovation Award cycle celebrates innovations that enabled provision of education services amidst the constraints posed by the pandemic, consistent with the INNOTECH vision of shaping a better future for all Southeast Asian learners. The award recognizes the contributions of effective innovations designed and adopted by teachers and community based education workers in a district or school cluster to sustain and improve learning services and how they gained positive results from the innovation.

Nomination

For the FY 2021-2022 Award cycle, individuals recognized as leaders and proponents of the innovations adopted in the schools, learning centers or communities may be nominated. They may be practicing teachers, school heads and community education workers who are citizens/subjects of SEAMEO Member Countries. The nomination should document the innovative practice, the context in which the innovation is developed and applied, the issues that the innovation sought to address and the positive impact on the learners and other members of the community.

The nominees may be employed by the government, a community-based organization, a recognized non-government organization or community organization or a partner in a development project. At the selection stage, the INNOTECH Governing Board may seek endorsement from the Ministry of Education concerned.

Nominations may be submitted by the following entities:

· Public or private schools and learning centers

· School districts/clusters, divisions or other field units and agencies under the Ministry of Education

· International development organizations, community-based organizations

· Institutions of higher learning

Selection Process

· The nominations (paper submissions or electronic files sent by e-mail) should reach SEAMEO INNOTECH no later than 17:00 Hrs on 30 August 2021. E-mail submissions should be addressed to info@seameo-innotech.org. Paper submissions should be sent to:

INNOTECH Southeast Asia Educational Innovation Awards (2021-2022)
C/o SEAMEO INNOTECH
Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman
Quezon City 1011, Metro Manila

· A Technical Working Group composed of INNOTECH staff will be convened to undertake an initial review and screening of the nominations.

· The eligible nominations will be reviewed by an international reference group of educators from outside of Southeast Asia. The panel will submit a short list of five nominees to the Centre Governing Board for final deliberation.

· The awardee will be confirmed and announced at the INNOTECH Governing Board Meeting.

· Selection shall be based on relevance of the innovation to the theme, the quality of the report and the innovation’s implications to Southeast Asian educational development.

Contact Details

Email: info@seameo-innotech.org | jason@seameo-innotech.org

Tel No.: +632 8924 7681 to 84 loc. 159

Direct Line: +632 8926 44 76

Social Media: Official SEAMEO INNOTECH page