Samaher Saif Al-Yazal
For the first time outside Paris, the Kingdom of Bahrain hosted the award ceremony for the “UNESCO – King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in the Field of Education,” on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of its launch, amid a high international presence of representatives of UNESCO and digital education experts from various countries of the world. This year’s edition, 2025, came under the slogan “Preparing learners and teachers for the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence,” where it was held Four global winners from Brazil, Belgium, Egypt, and the United Kingdom were honored in recognition of their contributions to developing innovative educational solutions that promote responsible, technology-integrated education.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Muhammad Jumaa said in his speech during the ceremony held at the University of Bahrain that Bahrain’s hosting of this event reflects its deep belief in the importance of digital education in building a sustainable future. The award has become a global platform to honor innovative educational initiatives that contribute to the development of smart education. The Minister congratulated the University of Bahrain on its entry into the “Times Higher Education” ranking of international research universities, considering it “a new national achievement that enhances Bahrain’s scientific standing.” For her part, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay praised Bahrain’s hosting of the award’s twentieth anniversary celebration, stressing that the Kingdom has become “a beacon of innovation thanks to its national strategy for the digital economy 2030.”
Azoulay said during her speech at the ceremony, “Since 1947, UNESCO has been working to harness technology to serve education. Today, we celebrate inspiring initiatives from countries such as Bahrain, Brazil and Egypt, which embody the ethical values of artificial intelligence in education.” She stressed that the close partnership between Bahrain and UNESCO made the award “a global symbol of responsible and sustainable education.”
Winner Cristian Brackmann from Brazil, one of the team members responsible for the PoE project, said their project aims to “spread AI awareness to every student in the PoE state” by training teachers to integrate ethical AI concepts into the school curriculum. He added: We have reached more than 120,000 students and 800 teachers in Brazil through an integrated training program that aims to make education available in a fair and accessible manner for all.
Brackman expressed his gratitude for Bahrain hosting the award, saying: “We are grateful for this distinguished hosting. Bahrain is a beautiful and inspiring country, and today it is proving that it is not only a consumer of technology, but an active partner in its manufacture and development.”
For her part, Director of the Information Technology Institute at the Egyptian Ministry of Communications, Dr. Heba Saleh said that rapid technological development requires “a revolution in Arab educational methods,” noting that her winning project, “Maharak,” is a leading Arab platform for qualifying young people in the fields of artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. She said that the platform aims to build a generation capable of dealing with modern technologies from a cognitive and ethical perspective. We do not just provide content, but rather we accompany the learner from study until entering the labor market.”
She added that artificial intelligence has become an integral part of the educational process, stressing that the use of artificial intelligence is as a thinking tool that develops capabilities and supports decision-making, not as a substitute for humans. She praised the Bahraini organisation, and said that the sponsorship and organization reflect a pioneering vision that believes in the role of education in building humanity. Ben Garside, one of the winners from the United Kingdom, who is senior director of learning programs at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, said: “I am honored to represent our program Experience AI, which is a program that teaches the basics of artificial intelligence to young people. We are very grateful to the Kingdom of Bahrain for hosting this event and supporting this award, which will help us expand the scope of our work to reach a greater number of young people around the world.”
He explained that the program provides free educational resources for the age group from 11 to 14 years, and supports teachers with all the tools and curricula they need. He continued, “We work with local partners in several countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to provide educational materials that take into account cultural specificity, and are also presented in the Arabic language, so that they are closer to the reality of students in the region.” For her part, Mwasi Wilmore, CEO of Ubongo, the African company that won the 2021 award, said that the award, over twenty years, “has contributed to making a tangible global impact in developing education through technology.” She added: “We reach more than 48 million children in Africa through meaningful educational and entertaining content, and we seek to reach 100 million in the coming years.” She stressed that the award gave them “a global voice and sustainable partnerships that enhance innovation and ensure a long-term impact in digital education.”
