GESS Education Awards announce winners

The Gulf region’s most eminent educational institutions, individuals and corporate suppliers were honoured at the recently concluded GESS Education Awards.

The inaugural edition of the awards programme organised by GESS, the leading education exhibition and conference in the Middle East, handed out  a total of 18 awards, selected thousands of entries representing the most distinguished individuals and institutions in the education sector, as well as local and regional suppliers providing world-class education products and solutions to the Gulf region.

Cited for their impressive portfolio of technology-orientated products, Education City was adjudged The Global Education Supplier of the Year winner, while the Local Education Supplier of the Year award went to Edutech.

Resource and Equipment Supplier of the Year Awards were given to Reading Eggs (Early Years), Oddizzi (Primary Years), Mathletics (Secondary Years), and Learning Resources (Special Education Needs). Meanwhile, the Best Resource and Equipment Supplier honours were awarded to Titan Furniture (Non-ICT Award).

The ICT category was among the hotly contested awards, with entries offering the latest gadgets and gizmos along with the most popular apps for education. Kiwa Digital won the Best Free ICT/App Product, while 2Simple won the Best Paid for ICT / App Product. The Best Use of ICT/ eLearning in the Classroom Award went to iPad Educators.

The competition for the Product Innovation awards was equally intense, with Wiris Maths emerging as the winner in the Product innovation / Judges’ Choice Category. The Production Innovation / Visitors’ Choice Awards were given to Jablotron (for topping the Online Voting) and to Innovabia (for emerging on top of the voting done onsite at the GESS exhibition.)

High impact social, health and environment programmes throughout the region were also recognised, with Edusport winning the Best Product to Promote Health and Fitness in the Classroom Award; and Arabian Child winning the Community Award for Citizenship.

Finally, individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the education sector in the Gulf were also given recognitions - Salim Al-Busaidi was named Ambassador for the Environment; Rohan Roberts was given the Innovation in Education Award;  Dr. Omar al Noursi was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution in Education Award; and Dr. Samia AL Farra was bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The first GESS Education Awards was made possible with the support of LearnPad and ALMOE. Speaking at the awards ceremonies, Sharief Fahmy, CEO, F&E Group said, “Congratulations to all our winners. They have helped teaching and learning in this part of the world become more and more effective, helping shape the education sector to become what it is today – robust and one of the most dynamic in the world. Admittedly, a lot more needs to be done; which is why we hope our winners tonight will become shining examples for others to follow.”