As the world-renowned Yidan Prize marks its 10th year of elevating transformative education innovation, three pioneering researchers have been named the 2026 recipients of the prize’s Education Development honor, with two hailing from The University of the West Indies (The UWI).
The 2026 laureate announcement was made public at an official press conference hosted in Hong Kong, capping a decade of the foundation’s work identifying and supporting global education changemakers. Chaired by Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, the prize’s independent Judging Committee selected Emeritus Professor Susan P. Walker, Senior Lecturer Dr Susan M. Chang-Lopez, both of The UWI’s Caribbean Institute for Health Research, and Emeritus Professor Sally Grantham-McGregor of University College London for the 2026 Education Development award.
The trio was recognized for their groundbreaking work developing Reach Up, an evidence-based early childhood development intervention tailored to children from birth to age four, with a specific focus on vulnerable communities. Unlike costly, one-size-fits-all early childhood programs, Reach Up centers on low-cost, culturally flexible activities integrated into daily family routines. It equips caregivers with practical skills and confidence to interact with young children through responsive conversation, play, and engagement — interactions that directly boost children’s long-term cognitive growth.
Today, the Reach Up model has been adopted across more than 21 countries spanning the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, integrated into national health, education, social protection, and humanitarian aid systems. A core feature of the program is its open-access design: all curricula and supporting materials are available to users for free, and the framework undergoes continuous evaluation and iterative adaptation to meet the unique needs of local communities around the globe.
The 2026 Yidan Prize also awarded its Education Research Prize to Professor Paul W. Glewwe of the University of Minnesota. Glewwe was honored for his influential research unpacking how socioeconomic status, health, and nutrition intersect to shape educational outcomes. Through rigorous methodological work including large-scale randomized controlled trials, Glewwe’s findings have directly informed evidence-based education policy design in more than 15 developing nations.
Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the prize, Dr Charles Chen Yidan, founder of the Yidan Prize Foundation, emphasized the award’s enduring mission. “The work and collective impact of our laureates over the past decade have made the Yidan Prize a lighthouse to illuminate pathways forward in global education,” he said. “Every laureate strengthens this commitment, brings transformative ideas, and expands the ways in which we shape the future of education.”
Each 2026 Yidan Prize laureate receives a total award of HK$30 million (approximately $3.83 million USD), split equally between a personal cash prize of HK$15 million and a HK$15 million project fund to support continued work in education innovation and research. The 2026 Yidan Prize Summit is scheduled to run in Hong Kong from December 3 to 5, with the official awards ceremony set to take place on the summit’s closing day.