The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Schools Enrichment Centre (AIMSSEC), together with the Rato Bangala Foundation (Nepal) and the Banco del Libro (Venezuela) will be awarded the UNESCO-Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers. The ceremony will take place in Dubai on 24 April 2012, in the presence of the UNESCO Director-General.

The US$270,000 prize money will be divided between the three organisations. The prize was set up with funding from Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum of Dubai in 2009, and is awarded every two years to candidates who have shown outstanding achievement in enhancing the performance and effectiveness of teachers in developing countries within marginalized or disadvantaged communities.

Dr Barrie Barnard, AIMSSEC Academic Manager, who will be attending the award ceremony in Dubai, said: “We are very honoured and proud to be selected as one of three projects nominated from thirty three countries for the UNESCO-HAMDAN prize. We plan to spend the money on training more South African mathematics teachers through our courses.”

From 13 – 15 December 2011, Jury Members, Professor Therese Tchombe and Professor Khalifa Alsuwaidi visited AIMSSEC to observe the project on the ground. Pictured here are Dr Barrie Barnard with Professor Tchombe, Najwa Chellan (AIMSSEC Administrative Officer) and Professor Alsuwaidi.

For more information about AIMSSEC please visit aimssec.ac.za