Manama: Under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) held the 2026 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education ceremony at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the ceremony was attended by Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education, Dr. Khaled El Enany, Director General of UNESCO, senior UNESCO officials, representatives of education ministries from around the world, members of the diplomatic corps, media representatives, heads of national commissions for education, science and culture, researchers and specialists, as well as Bahraini students studying at French universities.
The Education Minister and UNESCO's Director General presented the award to the two winning projects for 2026: Generation AI, submitted by universities in the Republic of Finland led by the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Helsinki and the University of Oulu, along with a number of partners; and Reda§o Paran¡, submitted by the Paran¡ State Department of Education in the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Dr. Juma delivered Bahrain's address at the ceremony, conveying the greetings of HM the King and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and their congratulations to the winners. He also conveyed Bahrain's leadership's appreciation for the longstanding partnership with UNESCO, of which the award is one of the outcomes.
The Education Minister congratulated the winners and expressed appreciation to the jury for its efforts in evaluating the nominations and selecting the winning projects.
Dr. Juma noted that this year's award coincides with HM the King's order designating this year as the "Year of Isa Al Kabeer", in commemoration of the founder of the modern state and leader of Bahrain's institutional renaissance, His Highness Isa Al Kabeer, Ruler of Bahrain and its Dependencies, during whose reign education transitioned from traditional education to a modern formal education system.
The Education Minister noted that Bahrain's Ministry of Education will soon launch its artificial intelligence-powered educational platform, providing more than 100 educational and administrative services to students, teachers and parents.
Dr. Juma added that Bahrain began implementing the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme in government schools at the start of the current academic year, becoming the first country in the region to integrate the IB curriculum directly into the government education system.
The ceremony featured a film produced by the Ministry of Education on education in Bahrain and the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education, as well as performances of Bahraini traditional music by a student orchestra from Bahrain.
Professor Chieon Chen, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, highlighted the importance of aligning objectives, efforts and strategies and strengthening coordination between UNESCO and its Member States to achieve the best outcomes in digital education. He commended the two winning projects and their significance in education.
The 2026 edition of the prize was held under the theme "Reimagining Creativity and Critical Thinking with Artificial Intelligence". The two winning projects were selected from 114 nominations submitted by 58 UNESCO Member States and organisations in official partnership with UNESCO.
An independent international jury comprising experts in digital technology in education selected the two projects for their outstanding use of digital technologies.