Jamaican Researchers Win the World's Biggest Education Prize

University of the West Indies researchers won the 2026 Yidan Prize — the world's largest education award, worth about US$3.8 million — for their Reach Up early-childhood program born in Jamaica. The program coaches caregivers to stimulate babies and toddlers through play, conversation and homemade toys; adults who went through it as children earn 25 to 40 percent more, with stronger thinking skills and better mental health.