HONGKONG, CHINA -  Media OutReach  -  19September 2019 - The Yidan Prize, the world'slargest international prize in education, announces its 2019 laureates. Professor Usha GOSWAMI, Professor of CognitiveDevelopmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom,has been awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Research, while Sir Fazle Hasan ABED KCMG, Founder andChair Emeritus of Bangladesh's BRAC has been granted the Yidan Prize forEducation Development in recognition and support of their ground-breaking work.Professor GOSWAMI's neuroscience research has made great strides in understanding brainfunction, which allows educators to design different teaching pedagogy, techniques and tools to helpchildren with dyslexia and special needs to learn languages more effectively. As the Founder and Chair Emeritus of BRAC, the world's largestnon-governmental organization, Sir Fazle's work of innovative Play Labs allowsthe poorest and the most vulnerable children to obtain high-quality and low-costearly childhood education.

Dr Charles CHEN Yidan, Founder of the YidanPrize

The Yidan Prize Judging Committee: ChairmanDr Koichiro MATSUURA (4th left), Head of the Judging Panel for the Yidan Prizefor Education Research Mr Andreas SCHLEICHER (3rd left), and Head of theJudging Panel for the Yidan Prize for Education Development Ms Dorothy K.GORDON (4th right)

The two laureates will receivetheir awards at the Yidan Prize Awards Presentation Ceremony.Distinguished guests from around the world will witness this memorable momentat a widely anticipated international education event.

This year's laureates werechosen by the Yidan Prize Judging Committee during a six-month judging processfrom an overwhelming number of strong candidates to the two laureates. Thegeographical reach of the nominated projects this year covers 129 countries orregions such as China, the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Germany,Australia, Brazil and many others, indicating the growing significance of theYidan Prize on the global stage. The 13 new countries on the listinclude Saudi Arabia, Belarus, North Macedonia, El Salvador, Gambia, Togo,Lesotho, Belize and others, representing a rich tapestry of different culturesand geographic regions.

Dr. Charles CHEN Yidan , Founder of the Yidan Prize, expressed his heartfelt thanks to theYidan Prize Judging Committee for their completion of the judging process inHong Kong. He said: "I congratulate Professor Usha GOSWAMI and Sir Fazle HasanABED KCMG on their outstanding achievements and commitment to improvingeducation. Knowledge attainment is an area that transcends racial, religious,economic and national boundaries, affecting everything from human health andthe environment to well-being and personal fulfilment. I hope every country andregion can benefit from the results of the best research and educationdevelopment work, helping to create a better world through education."

Dr. CHEN added, "I believe, in the future, education will continue to evolve --alongside with technological breakthrough and social change -- and we will havedeeper understanding on education. To me, education itself is not an end goal;it is an ongoing process to help mankind pursue long-term individual well-beingand sustainable social development."

Yidan Prize J udging Committee is led by Dr. Koichiro MATSUURA, formerDirector-General of UNESCO. Mr. Andreas SCHLEICHER, Director for theOECD's Directorate of Education and Skills, heads the panel judging the YidanPrize for Education Research, while Ms. Dorothy K. GORDON, Chair ofUNESCO IFAP, leads the panel judging the Yidan Prize for Education Development.

Dr. MATSUURA , Chairman of Yidan Prize Judging Committ ee commented: "This is the third year the Yidan Prize has been awardedand we are pleased with the result. Our Committee is delighted to see that thelaureates' inspiring projects are helping transform education in differentcommunities, improving learning in a meaningful and sustainable manner."

Professor Usha GOSWAMI , Laureate of Yidan Prize forEducation Research, is a world-leading researcher in the fields of literacy,neuroscience and education. She is Professor of Cognitive DevelopmentalNeuroscience at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John's CollegeCambridge. Her research has identified the importance of children's awarenessof linguistic rhythm patterns for their reading acquisition, and has alsorevealed the brain basis of rhythm perception, showing how this neural processis impaired in developmental dyslexia.

Mr. SCHLEICHER , Head of the Judging Panelfor the Yidan Prize for Education Research praised Professor GOSWAMI   for her ground-breaking research. He said: "ProfessorGOSWAMI is a highly respected scholar who has been visionary in her approachand impactful in the field. Thanks to her work, educators can now understandhow children's phonological awareness underpins reading development anddyslexia across languages -- at the cognitive, the behavioural, the sensorialand the neural levels. GOSWAMI's work has made great strides in understandingbrain function and brain development, which has far-reaching implications forpeople's wellbeing in later life and their participation in society. Herresearch has laid the groundwork for helping every child succeed. It hasallowed passionate educators to arm themselves with the scientificunderstanding of how different children learn, so that teachers can embracethat diversity with differentiated pedagogical practice and make educationalsuccess predictable, scalable and sustainable."

In 1972, Sir Fazle Hasan ABED KCMG, Laureate of Yidan Prize for EducationDevelopment, founded BRAC, an international organization with a focus onempowering the poor, especially women and girls, to achieve their fullpotential through education. Since then, BRAC has grown to be one of the mosteffective development organizations in the world, working each year with over 100million people globally.

Ms. GORDON , Head of the Judging Panelfor the Yidan Prize for Education Development congratulated Sir Fazle Hasan ABEDFounder and Chair Emeritus of BRAC on his remarkable and distinguished career. Shesaid: "As a hugely influential and visionary leader of BRAC for over fourdecades, Sir Fazle has remained true to his goal: to empower the poor toalleviate poverty. BRAC has revolutionized how marginalized children fromresource-poor communities learn, giving thousands of children between the ageof 3 to 5 the opportunity to benefit from the latest research in how brainsdevelop and providing them with a solid foundation for their further education.BRAC's interventions are part of a historic movement to end extreme poverty --led by those directly affected and amplified by those who care. A movement toensure that 'no one is left behind' in the true spirit of the United NationsSustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

Honoring the laureates andsharing ideas

The third edition of the YidanPrize for Education Research and the Yidan Prize for Education Development willbe awarded in December. The ceremony will be followed by the Yidan Prize Summit and the Y idan Prize Conference Series: Asia-Pacific. The laureates will be joinedby hundreds of practitioners, researchers, policymakers, business leaders and philanthropistsfrom around the world, who will come together to share ideas and find solutionsto apply the best global practices to their local communities.

Nominations for the next roundof the Yidan Prize will open in early October .

About theYidan Prize Laureates 2019

Yidan Prizefor Education Research

Professor Usha GOSWAMI

Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate 2019

Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscienceat the University of Cambridge

Professor Usha GOSWAMI is a world-leading researcherin the fields of literacy, neuroscience and education. She is Professor of CognitiveDevelopmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of StJohn's College Cambridge. Professor GOSWAMI founded and serves as Director ofthe world's first Centre for Neuroscience in Education. Her research hasidentified the importance of children's awareness of linguistic rhythm patternsfor their reading acquisition, and has also revealed the brain basis of rhythm perception,showing how this neural process is impaired in developmental dyslexia. Thesediscoveries are enabling transformative educational interventions that have thepotential to benefit millions of children worldwide.

Professor GOSWAMI was electeda Fellow of the British Academy in 2013, and has won a range of internationalprizes for her research. She has given talks on neuroscience and learning in numerous countries' governments and organizations , has published 8 books and over 180 research papers, and has writtenwidely for educators and for the public.

Yidan Prizefor Education Development

Sir Fazle Hasan ABED KCMG

Yidan Prize for Education Development Laureate 2019

Founder and Chair Emeritus of BRAC

Sir Fazle Hasan ABED KCMG isthe Founder and Chair Emeritus of BRAC, ranked by Geneva-based 'NGO Advisor' asthe number one NGO in the world in 2019 for the fourth consecutive year basedon its innovation, impact and governance. Established in 1972, and operatingacross 11 countries in Africa and Asia, BRAC's primary objectives arealleviating poverty and empowering the poor.

Sir Fazle has been honouredwith numerous national and international awards for his achievements in leadingBRAC. In 2009, Sir Fazle was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St.Michael and St. George by the British Crown in recognition of his services toreducing poverty in Bangladesh and internationally.

About the Yidan Prize

Foundedin 2016 by Dr. Charles CHEN Yidan, a core founder of Tencent, the Yidan Prizehas a mission of creating a better world through education. It consists of twoawards, the Yidan Prize for Education Research and the Yidan Prize forEducation Development. Yidan Prize Laureates each receives a gold medal and atotal sum of HK$30 million (around US$3.9 million), half of which is a cashprize while the other half is a project fund. To ensure transparency andsustainability, the prize is managed by Yidan Prize Foundation and governed byan independent trust with an endowment of HK$2.5 billion (around US$323million). Through a series of initiatives, the prize aims to establish aplatform for the global community to engage in conversation around educationand to play a role in education philanthropy.

YidanPrize Website: https://yidanprize.org