By Elizabeth Osayande

In a remarkable achievement, Slum2School Green Academy, a distinguished Nigerian school located in Epe, Lagos State, has been named among the Top 10 shortlists for the prestigious World’s Best School Prizes 2026. Established by T4 Education in 2022 in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19, these five global education awards aim to showcase schools that are making significant impacts both inside and outside their classrooms. The event has been dubbed the ‘World Cup for Schools,’ highlighting the unparalleled recognition these prizes hold within the education sector.

Slum2School Green Academy uniquely serves 250 underserved children from eight riverine communities. This charity-run kindergarten and primary school is pioneering a climate-smart learning environment that employs an experiential, inquiry-based learning model. Remarkably, this approach enables students to achieve up to three years of educational progress within a single academic year. The school has been specifically shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action, reflecting its commitment to sustainability and innovative education.

The winners across the five categories—Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives—will be determined by an expert Judging Academy using established criteria. The announcement of the Top 3 finalists and winners is scheduled for November. Additionally, all 50 shortlisted schools will participate in a Public Vote, which commenced today, to identify the recipient of the Community Choice Award.

Following this recognition, both winners and shortlisted institutions will be invited to the World Schools Summit in London, UK, on January 16-17, 2027. This event provides a platform for sharing best practices and insights with policymakers and influential figures in global education.

founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, Vikas Pota, expressed his congratulatory remarks, stating, “Congratulations to Slum2School Green Academy on being shortlisted for the fifth annual World’s Best School Prizes. It has been shown that Nigeria’s schools truly stand among the best in the world.”

He continued, “Each one of these exemplary schools has played a unique role in preparing young people for an uncertain future. It is essential that our schools cultivate the leaders needed to address the significant challenges posed by conflict, inequality, populism, and climate change. Every day, these institutions exemplify effective practices, serving as models for governments and schools worldwide.”

About Slum2School Green Academy:

Slum2School Green Academy operates in one of Nigeria’s most remote and water-locked settlements, Saga, located approximately an hour from shore. For generations, formal education remained out of reach for local children, who often faced long and arduous journeys by canoe to attend school. This daunting reality resulted in many children lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills while their families struggled with persistent intergenerational poverty, exacerbated by a lack of clean water, electricity, healthcare, and essential infrastructure.

Understanding that traditional schooling methods were impractical in this challenging environment, the school adopted an innovative approach by constructing a climate-smart academy using locally sourced materials like bamboo and wood. This design enables the school to integrate seamlessly with its surroundings while maintaining durability against local conditions. The facility functions as a self-sustaining ecosystem, where students benefit from classrooms designed for natural ventilation, access to clean water harvested on-site, participation in waste management and recycling initiatives, and opportunities to cultivate their food in school gardens.

The school’s pedagogical framework recognises that most of its students have little to no prior exposure to formal education. Teaching methods revolve around project-based, play-based, and hands-on learning experiences that promote literacy and numeracy through practical engagement rather than traditional textbooks. Lessons are meticulously crafted to resonate with students’ everyday lives, utilising visual, physical, and experiential approaches. The curriculum also integrates global perspectives through digital resources, storytelling, and guided exploration, empowering children to view themselves within a broader context, thereby enhancing their confidence and curiosity.

Students are actively involved in the school’s environmental initiatives, allowing them to gain a practical understanding of important concepts such as water conservation, renewable energy, and waste management. Classroom-led projects—like establishing a school garden that focuses on composting and harvesting, as well as transforming water hyacinth into marketable products—further enrich the educational experience, bridging learning with real-world applications.