The Yidan Prize laureates are at the center of our mission—to create a better world through education. And our strong community of education changemakers is about to grow as we welcome the 2022 laureates on 29 September.

They’re joining our global learning community—a community that brings together thought leaders across disciplines and geographies. As we prepare to announce this year’s laureates, let’s take a moment to reflect on the work of our 2021 Yidan Prize laureates.

Building a network of young, local researchers to accelerate change in sub-Saharan Africa

To quote Professor Eric A. Hanushek, our 2021 Yidan Prize Laureate for Education Research: “An indispensable element of successful long-term economic development is a skilled population.” With the support of the Yidan Prize, Eric’s ‘Yidan African Fellows Program’ aims to improve education decision-making across sub-Saharan Africa. The program will support a network of local policy fellows—nurturing them to become leaders capable of conducting rigorous research and shaping education policies in their countries and beyond.

Through a two-year fellowship program, Eric and his team will support selected policy analysts to develop essential skills in shaping education policies for the region. This program will help them gain valuable research and analytical experiences and access to the international education community, including researchers at leading universities, and policy advisers globally.

We look forward to this network of local researchers coming together and working to transform research into policy actions and learning results for a brighter future.

Re-shaping the early years of children across India

Reinforcing her commitment to having ‘every child in school and learning well’, our 2021 Education Development laureate Dr Rukmini Banerji is using her Yidan Prize project funds to strengthen Pratham’s ‘Leap Forward’ plan. The plan focuses on building a strong foundation for children in their early years, reducing the need for catch-up interventions down the road.

With storytelling playing a vital role in any child’s learning, Pratham has used part of the Yidan Prize funds to support its National Story Project, with a goal to create 100 original, relatable stories in 11 regional languages each year. To do this, Pratham has hosted multiple story-writing workshops and commissioned authors to write short stories for children in different regional languages.

The National Story Project and PraDigi Open Learning will collaborate, ensuring that these stories are available through low-tech resources via their online platform, increasing access across the country.

One year on from receiving the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Development, Pratham’s incredible efforts continue—transforming the trajectory of millions of children in India. We look forward to sharing more about their work and impact in the years to come.

Welcoming this year’s laureates into our global community

On 29 September 2022, our independent Judging Committee will be announcing the 2022 Yidan Prize Laureates for Education Research and for Education Development. We’re livestreaming the announcement at the ‘Energizing the Potential of All Learners’ conference at Stanford University.

Co-hosted with the Stanford Graduate School of Education and the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, this conference will gather global leaders to discuss a theory of change driving the future of learning.

Register to join our discussion from wherever you are and celebrate the big ideas that have the potential to create a better, brighter future in education.