Breaking: Nigerian female school shortlisted among top 10 for $250,000 world’s best school

A public school in Sokoto state, Nigeria, Government Girls Day Secondary School, RunjinSambo, has emerged among the top finalists for the $25,000 World’s best school for overcoming adversity by empowering local nurses including educating 4000 girls with knowledge and skills of menstrual hygiene.

The school brought about a transformative shift in the lives of thousands of teenage girls through its Menstrual Hygiene program, breaking down barriers to education and empowering them to reach their full potential. 

With various sensitization programmes, Government Girls Day Secondary School, RunjinSambo, was able to impact about 4,000 girls with basic menstrual hygiene skills and knowledge. 

The school also produced many nurses and health personnel currently serving the community, contributing to other sustainable areas such as introducing students to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, and reproductive health.

Meanwhile, the five World’s Best School Prizes, founded last year by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, Yayasan Hasanah, and the Lemann Foundation, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes, aimed to share the best practices of schools that transform the lives of their students and make a real difference to their communities.

The award, which looked at themes such as community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity, and supporting healthy lives, celebrate schools everywhere in the world for the pivotal role they play in developing the next generation of learners and for their enormous contribution to society’s progress, especially in the wake of COVID.

Speaking of the award, and congratulating Government Girls Day Secondary School for coming tops, the founder of T4 Education, and the World’s Best School Prizes Vikas Pota, noted that “The schools shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes, no matter where they can be found or what they teach, all have one thing in common. They all have a strong school culture. 

“Their leaders know how to attract and motivate exceptional educators, inspire change, and build excellent teaching and learning environments.

“I must congratulate Government Girls Day Secondary School on being named in the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2023. Schools across the globe will learn from the story of this trailblazing Nigerian institution and the culture it has cultivated.” Pota explained.  

While the top 3 finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes will be announced in September 2023, and the winners affirmed in October; the US$250,000 will be equally shared among the winners of the five Prizes, with each receiving an award of US$50,000.

Meanwhile, all 50 shortlisted schools will be invited to share their best practices through events on the T4 Communities app or school transformation toolkits that showcase their “secret sauce” to innovative approaches and step-by-step instructions on how others can replicate their methods to help improve education everywhere.