Korvi Rakshand, Founder of JAAGO Foundation received the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Award for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education in Paris.
The award is the recognition of JAAGO Foundation’s work in eradicating poverty by providing quality education through ICT to the underprivileged community in the remote areas of Bangladesh through Online School.
UNESCO has been recognizing innovations in teaching and learning that leverage technology to improve educational outcomes since 2005. JAAGO Foundation and one other organization were selected by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the basis of recommendations made by an international jury of five independent and recognized experts in the area of ICT in Education from each region.
JAAGO Foundation has been operating 10 Online Schools in Bangladesh in partnership with Grameenphone Ltd. and Agni Systems Ltd. JAAGO Foundation is also running three conventional schools for underprivileged children. Online schools provide quality education in remote areas of Bangladesh through video conference system providing to high-quality teaching staff from Dhaka.
The award was announced by Mr. Daniel Burgos, Chairman, International Jury for the Prize Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO handed over the prize to JAAGO founder in the presence of His Highness Shaikh Muhammad Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and His Excellency Dr. Majed Bin Ali Al-Noaimi, Minister of Education of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the HeadQuarter of UNESCO in Paris.
Korvi at his speech thanked UNESCO for the recognition of the effort they have put in the last 10 years. He also expressed his gratitude towards the partner organizations, Grameenphone and Agni systems without whom the Online School initiative would not have been possible.
He said, this award will not only boost the confidence but will also help spread the word and create more partnership in Bangladesh and beyond to take quality education to the most remote parts of the world. He also thanked UNESCO for giving the award on the 21st of February which is very dear to his heart. Bangladesh is the birthplace of International Mother Language Day.
In 1952, the student movement in Bangladesh fought to protect their language, Bangla (Bengali). In 2000 UNESCO declared 21st February as International Mother Language Day. He ended his speech in Bangla thanking the people of Bangladesh for supporting JAAGO Foundation.
A remote school was connected with UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the students interacted with the audience. One of the students gave a short presentation on Bangladesh and the audience was amazed to be connected with the children in the live class.
