Mikołaj Wolanin, a law student at the University of Warsaw and the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, is among the 10 best students in the world, the Foundation for Student Rights has announced.
Organised by the Indian educational Varkey Foundation and the American student support organization Chegg.org,the finalists of the Global Student Prize for the best students included hopefuls from Canada, Argentina, Malaysia and Turkey.
Wolanin is president and founder of the Foundation for Student Rights (Fundacja na rzecz Praw Ucznia, FnrPU), established in 2019 as well as chairman of the Main Committee of the Student Rights Knowledge Olympiad, the Foundation's representative at Child Rights Connect in Geneva and a member of the Team for Student Rights and Obligations at the Ministry of National Education.
From February 2022 to June 2023, Wolanin was a volunteer and then an employee of the Short-Term Stay Point for Refugees from Ukraine. In 2020, he was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize, and in 2023 he became one of the main prize winners of the President of Warsaw Award.
'The Global Student Prize is a great distinction and I am very happy about it. But this award is not about me or any of the other people from these ten, it is about social activism. I would not attach importance to the names on this list, but to the idea of this competition', Wolanin told the Polish Press Agency.
This is the 4th edition of the Global Student Prize and this year’s competition received around 11,000 entries from over 170 countries. In July, 50 candidates who advanced to the next stage were announced. That list included three people from Poland - in addition to Wolanin, they were Marcelina Maciąg and Martyna Łuszczek.
The winner, described on the Global Student Prize website as a person who has 'a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers and on society beyond’, will receive $100,000. Previous winners were Jeremiah Thoronka from Sierra Leone (2021), Igor Klymenko from Ukraine (2022) and Nhial Deng, a refugee from South Sudan living in Kenya (2023).
The Varkey Foundation also organises a competition for teachers, the Global Teachers Prize. Since 2015, seven people have won this prize - and $1 million. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland
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