How to Apply

• Good Practice Awards Submissions will only be accepted from entities such as ministries, schools, or civil society organisations—individuals are ineligible to apply.
• Download the Application Form and complete all sections of the form.
• Email or post the submission to:

The Co-ordinator
Commonwealth Education Good Practice Awards
Education Section
Social Transformation Programmes Division
Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5HX
United Kingdom
Email: educationawards@commonwealth.int

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: 30 November 2011

Submissions received after this date will not be considered.

Note: The adjudication of finalists will be held during the 18CCEM in Mauritius in 2012, and finalists will be invited to attend. Finalists from the 16th and 17th CCEMs are not eligible to apply.

Guidance notes for completing the application form

The numbers below correspond to the questions on the application form.

1. The country must be a member of the Commonwealth.

13. ‘The Beneficiary’ refers to individuals who have directly benefited from the Good Practice.

14. ‘People participating’ means the individuals who have been involved in running and delivering the Good Practice.

15. The Good Practice must fit into at least one of the Award’s Action Areas.

Please list those applicable, up to a maximum of four. The Action Areas are:

• achieving universal primary education;
• eliminating gender disparities in education;
• improving quality in education;
• mitigating the impact of HIV on education systems;
• supporting education in difficult circumstances;
• using distance learning to overcome barriers;
• using education to promote sustainable development eg., climate change; and
• promoting civil paths to peace eg., respect and understanding.

16. The Executive Summary should be a brief description of the Good Practice.

Please include simple statements about its aims and objectives, and tell us what actually happens in the Good Practice.

17. The Description could cover, but not be limited to:

• the context of the Good Practice;
• how the Good Practice was designed;
• who was involved in designing it;
• who was involved in implementing it;
• a detailed description of the Good Practice itself;
• who benefits from it, and how they benefit;
• the cost of the Good Practice, and where the money came from.

Please be clear about the Good Practice, remembering that others will not know the details of your organisation, how the education system works in your country, or the details about its culture.

18. The following criteria should be adhered to carefully in submissions as they provide the basis for selection. You need not answer every question in each criterion. However, try to give as much evidence as you can to support your application.

Relevance: The Good Practice should demonstrate a socio-culturally sensitive and economically appropriate response to the context and challenge of education delivery in a specific country.

• How well does the Good Practice fit into its cultural context?
• What specific education issue does the Good Practice address?
• Does the submission demonstrate that the Good Practice is a suitable response to the realities and environment in which it operates?
• Does the Good Practice encourage the development of relevant, useful skills which are in demand?

Measurable Impact and Effect: The Good Practice should have an impact on the intended group, which could be demonstrated and measured.

• What positive impact has the Good Practice made to the lives of people? How was this measured? Who measured it?
• What impact has the Good Practice had on the organisation?
• How many persons/students/teachers/schools/ etc. has the Good Practice positively impacted?

• What do beneficiaries of the Good Practice say about it?

Sustainability: The Good Practice should be projected to have continued positive impact in the long-term.

• Is the Good Practice expected to continue in the future and for how long?
• Who is responsible for ensuring it continues in the future?
• How do you envisage it changing and growing in the future?
• Where will the funds come from? What will happen if the original organisers and funders leave?

Efficiency and Effectiveness: The Good Practice should demonstrate cost-savings and/or the efficient and effective use of resources in its implementation.

• Has the Good Practice saved on costs? Does it have built-in efficiencies?
• How creatively and effectively have resources been used, so as to minimise cost and optimise results? Can the Good Practice be repeated at a lower cost?
• How has its environmental impact been reduced to the minimum?

Community Participation and Contribution: The Good Practice should be enhanced or enriched through community and civil society participation, ownership or contribution.

• Have there been any contribution and/or participation by the community where the Good Practice is located?
• If yes, how has the community been engaged?
• If no, how could the Good Practice improve engagement with the community? And are there plans to engage the community in the future?
• Are stakeholders involved in making specific contributions to the Good Practice?

Replication: Given similar conditions and circumstances, the Good Practice has the potential to be replicated in the education systems of other Commonwealth countries.

• Would it be easy to do the Good Practice in another country or cultural context? What problems might there be?
• Has any aspect of the Good Practice been copied, replicated or identified for replication by another organisation, ministry or country?
• If not, what issues/elements of the Good Practice could be easily replicated in other countries?