Yemeni school nominated for UNESCO award
The award, which is funded by the Bahraini King, Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa and organized by UNESCO, was created in 2005. It consists of a sum of $50,000 divided equally between two winners.
Every year the Prize rewards two projects worldwide for excellent models, best practices, and creative use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance learning, teaching and overall educational performance, according to UNESCO.
The female students at Aisha High School have presented this year their inventions to board of the King Hamad bin Isal Al-Khalfi Prize, despite the poor education situation in Yemen, worsened by the political unrest.
Aisha High School, along with four other schools, was selected earlier this year as a nominee for the UNESCO prize, awarded to the school whose inventions conform best to UNESCO standards.
Only one of the competing schools around the world wins the $50,000 award.
Hayat Al-Shahari, a student is Aisha high school, says that her school accomplished extraordinary things in the First Forum for Scientific Innovations, held in Sana'a between April 4-7.
Many schools took part in the forum, during which the students presented inventions and innovations.
One of these inventions is the lighting book. It was the brainchild of five girls from Aisha High School, the same girls that invented an early alarm device against robberies. With the lighting book, students place their notebooks or books inside this book and read or write by light coming from the lighting book, which operates on one battery charged with solar energy.
The five girls—Sundus Al-Aqad, Shima Al-Mahbashi, Shima Al-Dharasi, Qamar Al-Jahwashhi and Latifa Al-Yafai—are currently putting forth extra efforts to come up with still newer innovations, after their inventions were recognized and rated as distinctive in the First Forum for Scientific Innovations.
"The lighted office works on solar energy, and thus students can study for a long time unaffected by the frequent, long power blackouts," says Sundus Al-Aqad.
Mohammed Al-Kuhali, the representative of UNESCO at Aisha High School, pointed out that the pupils in Aisha made accomplishments in the fields of health, environment, and scientific innovations, indicating that the school is considered the best public school in the country in terms of environment and health activities.
In March, the Aisha High school carried out a cleaning campaign that got rid of the accumulated garbage piles within the vicinity of the school and in the streets nearby, resulting from the long strikes by street cleaners, according to Al-Kuhali.
"'Let's preserve the environment of our school' was the banner for the cleaning campaign," added Al-Kuhali.
The students of Aisha High School celebrated World Health Day, whose theme for this year was "aging and health", by holding a number of festivals and activities which focused on topics that contribute to prolonging life, including quitting smoking, early sleep, healthy diet, and exercise.
The festivals and activities held on World Health Day were meant to deliver a message to the Yemeni society that "good health adds years to life."
Aisha High school, located on Al-Adal Street, near Sana'a University, needs an electronic infrastructure, however, for it to be able to carry out computer literacy initiatives among its students, as it succeeded in doing with teachers.
The school principal, Amat Al-Atif Mutahar, says her school seeks to improve the educational process through widespread computer use.
“The school needs a big hall equipped with more than 100 computers for the teachers to carry out computer literacy initiatives among the students,” adds Mutahar.
Unity Day: What does it mean to you?