Two Indian schools — one each from Gujarat and Maharashtra — have been shortlisted in the top three finalists for the $250,000 World’s Best School Prizes 2023. The two Indian schools are Snehalaya English Medium School from Ahmednagar Maharashtra and Ahmedabad Gujarat’s Riverside School. 

Snehalaya English Medium School is a charity school that has transformed the lives of children living with HIV/AIDS and those from sex worker families and ended second-generation prostitution in its district. It has made the final three for the World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity 2023.

The Riverside School, an international school, has gained worldwide recognition for its student-centric approach to education, particularly through its I CAN pedagogical model. It has made it to the final 3 for the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation 2023.

The five World’s Best School Prizes – for community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity and supporting healthy lives – celebrate schools everywhere for the role they have been playing in developing the next generation of learners and for their enormous contribution to society’s progress, especially in the wake of COVID, an official statement issued in this regard said. A prize of US$250,000 will be equally shared among the winners of the five prizes, with each receiving an award of US$50,000. 

The prizes were established to share the best practices of schools that are transforming the lives of their students and making a real difference to their communities.

The winners will be chosen by an expert judging academy on the basis of criteria by a judging academy comprising distinguished leaders across the globe including academics, educators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society and the private sector.

In addition, T4 Education has launched a new Community Choice Award this year – open to the 15 schools that make up the top three finalists across all five World’s Best School Prizes – and given to the one school that inspires the most support in a Public Vote, which opened today.