FAQs
What is the GBA, who is eligible to apply?
GBA refers to the “Greater Bay Area”. This includes: the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province.
I’m not in the GBA, can I apply?
The awards are open to schools that are physically located in the GBA or for businesses that operate (service schools) in the GBA.
Why create this award for the GBA?
The GBA is the largest and most populated urban area in the world as well as one of the fastest growing. Already a center for innovation in multiple areas including education. These awards are designed to showcase and promote innovation and excellence in education in this dynamic and interconnected part of the world as well as to provide a platform for sharing and collaboration between schools that are part of a dynamic region that will help shape the 21st Century.
What is the cost to participate?
No fees are required to apply for the award. The only cost to schools/applicants is to attend the Gala Dinner. Anyone involved in Education is welcome to attend. Although it is required for nominated entities to send at least one representative to the Gala Dinner to witness the announcement of winners. More about the Gala Dinner.
What happens at the Gala Dinner?
All nominees will be invited to the Gala dinner, where we will spotlight them during the event and announce the winner LIVE for each award. Winners and finalists will be invited for photo op with the distinguished judges. Nominees should send at least one representative to the Gala Dinner on 13 February 2025.
The Gala Dinner is also open to anyone involved in Education to attend.
Tickets are $250USD per seat per person, or $199USD per seat for groups of three or more. Learn More.
What Language should the awards submission be in?
The language of award submission is English.
Who are the organizers of these awards?
These awards are organized by 21st Century Learning (21CL), a Hong Kong-registered company in cooperation with its partners. 21CL has a long history of bringing together educational innovators through their conferences and events throughout the region. They also previously ran the prestigious Innovative Educator and Innovative Teacher Awards which were sponsored globally by Pearson.
Can a school submit applications for multiple award categories?
Yes, absolutely.
How does the judging process looks like?
The awards will be judged in three stages.
- The first stage is the online application and entrants will be shortlisted based on the strength of their submission form and supporting video. You will be contacted by us to confirm if you have been shortlisted. Depending on the number of applicants for an award category we may split the category into Primary / Secondary awards or Primary or K-12 Awards. If an award category does not receive enough submissions it is possible that category may not advance to the next stage.
- Once the shortlists for each awards category are finalized, the judging panel for each award is given the opportunity to ask questions of the schools. This will be done asynchronously via documents.
- Next, once the schools have provided brief answers to these questions, the judges will submit their scores and feedback; and winners will be chosen based on the score submitted.
The decision of the judges is final. The organizers and judges reserve the right to re-classify, re-categorise, or reject any entry that does not comply with the requirements of the awards.
Entries will only be judged based on the information provided to the judges on the entry form and the additional supporting videos submitted.
Judges are requested to declare an interest and remove themselves from the process if they are asked to judge an entry that poses a conflict of interest.
Can I use same application to submit into multiple award categories?
Yes, you may submit the same application into multiple award categories as long as your submission is relevant to each of them. If you do intend to submit into multiple categories, do note that the Application Form only accommodates one award category selection per submission, thus you will need to fill in the form every time you select a different category.
Must our submission represent the “whole school” or just a particular segment of the school?
The award submission can represent just one particular initiative your school leading/engaging in. For example, for the School Library Award, it could be for a new student leadership initiative in a particular school library (if you have Early Year/Primary/Secondary libraries). Or the Experiential Learning Award, it could be for a program that impacts only on a particular grade level for example.
Can we edit our application after submission?
Once submitted, applications cannot be edited. Please ensure all documents and materials are final before submitting.
Will feedback be provided on our submission?
Due to the large number of submissions, we are unable to provide individual feedback to all applicants.
What do I receive for the award?
Award winners will receive a trophy and plaque which they can showcase in their school. There will also be digital badges issued to award winners for display on their digital platforms.
