Sana Abdul Salam Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Ihsan Education Award 2013 has announced its winning projects for this year. Loay Al-Shareef bagged the first place for his project titled “Fallimha,” an edutainment show that aims to improve English by watching movies. The show involves different segments, one of which is the re-enactment of a certain scene in an English movie to re-enforce one's understanding of the language. “The teaching will involve learning of certain phrases that are repeated in movies,” said Al-Shareef, who will receive a funding worth SR200,000 for his project. He added: “In my opinion, all languages have phrases that are repeated more than others. If you grasp the meaning of these phrases, then you will find that you're language will have improved greatly.” The second place was secured by Yousef Sweis for “Dardasa,” a program that aims to provide an online social media platform for students, parents and teachers to connect. Sweis will be given funds worth SR100,000 for his unique project. Lama Al Sibaei, who was declared as the third winner, will receive SR50,000 for her project “Alta7adi (challenge),” an online adventure game that teaches children social values. Kholood Al-Alawi won the fourth spot for her project “Ajyalona (our generation),” a video game which aims to promote good behavior. While young players gain points for good behavior (such as eating healthy foods), setbacks occur for negative behavior (such as eating unhealthy foods). According to the organizers, initially, three best projects were to be awarded. However, since the fourth highest ranked project showed much promise, it will also be awarded SR 50,000. In addition to receiving funding for their projects, the winners will receive support services from business incubators Naba Education Co. and Verso Education Incubator. This will include mentorship, consultancy from experts, and any other services that the projects may require. “It was really good to see the collaboration between the government and private sectors, and the people, who came together to promote innovation in education,” said Madiha Khayat, project manager at TaM Development LLC, the organizer for the award. They had managed the process of coordinating with the judges and voting for the award through their website. “Initially, we had expected 50 projects and 500 ideas, but were surprised to receive as many as 118 projects and 2600 ideas in just 20 days,” said Khayat, who was extremely pleased at the turnout and execution of the award. “We are also receiving calls from companies saying that they would like to sponsor the projects that were not ranked in the first four,” she added. Apart from the winners, Norah Ghreibi, Rawan Ganas and Wafa Anbarje were presented with ipads for their unique ideas, which can be further developed by those interested. Along with TaM Development LLC and Naba Education Co, the award was managed by Aram Co., which is owned by Ahmed Shugairi. The winners were awarded yesterday during the International Exhibition and Forum for Education 2013 (IEFE 2013) by the minister of education.
