A Malaysian school has been named a Top 10 finalist for the World’s Best School Prizes 2025. The five World’s Best School Prizes, founded by T4 Education in the wake of COVID in 2022 to share the best practices of schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and far beyond their walls, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes.
SK Putrajaya Presint 11(1), a public primary school in WP Putrajaya, Malaysia, which is breaking down the barriers attached to mental health and wellbeing with HELPIE, a mobile app, designed and developed by students for students, that makes mental health support accessible, interactive, engaging and most importantly, fun, has been named a Top 10 finalist for the World’s Best School Prize for Supporting Healthy Lives.
The winners of the five World’s Best School Prizes – for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria. In addition, all 50 finalist schools across the five Prizes will also take part in a Public Vote, which opened today, to determine the winner of the Community Choice Award. All six winners will be announced in October.
The winners and finalists of these global schools prizes will be invited to the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 15-16 where they will share their best practices and unique expertise and experience with policymakers and leading figures in global education.
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said, “In a world being turned upside down by AI, as technology reshapes the way we learn and renders jobs that have existed for centuries obsolete, amid growing challenges of climate change, conflict, poverty and populism, the world our young people are entering has never felt more precarious. And a good education, with humans at its heart, has never been more important.
“It is in schools like SK Putrajaya Presint 11(1) where we find the innovations and expertise that give us hope for a better future. Congratulations on becoming a finalist for the World’s Best School Prizes 2025. Leaders and schools around the world have so much to learn from this inspirational Malaysian institution.”
SK Putrajaya Presint 11(1), a public primary school in WP Putrajaya, Malaysia, is breaking down the barriers attached to mental health and wellbeing with HELPIE, a mobile app, designed and developed by students for students, that makes mental health support accessible, interactive, engaging and most importantly, fun. With more than 1400 students in the school, mental health and wellbeing is a top priority, but a survey in 2023 revealed that 34% of students were experiencing stress, and 47% were struggling to express their emotions. It also found that students lacked self-awareness, did not know how to seek help, and were reluctant to share their struggles with their parents.
Armed with these insights, a team of students and teachers collaborated to design, code and refine a mobile app to serve as a comprehensive stress management tool to help students understand and manage stress in an interactive and engaging way. Gamification makes emotional awareness fun and interesting, self-assessment tools help students easily see their current stress levels and identify emotional triggers and stress points, and a chat feature linked to an online therapist gives students quick access to guidance and counselling.
Printed cards, paired with the app, provide guided activities that bring content into a real-world context, allowing children to play individually or in groups and encourage open discussions about emotions. To drive community involvement, a stress support system powered through the app organises awareness campaigns to provide a fully inclusive experience. Ensuring that students with limited digital resources are not left behind, the app is installed on school-provided tablets, which children can access throughout their school day.
Since implementation, the school has seen a 60% drop in student stress levels. More than 90% of students report having a better understanding of their emotions, and 87% say they understand their stress levels better. Teachers feel better equipped with tools to support students emotionally and have reported a 40% improvement in classroom behaviour, while parents and the broader community have become more involved in understanding and supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing.
The initiative saw the school win the prestigious AIA Healthiest Schools Competition 2024. Efforts are underway to publish HELPIE on Google Play so that it can be integrated into the counselling programmes of more schools.
By ensuring that technology and emotional awareness go hand-in-hand, SK Putrajaya Presint 11(1) has created a balanced and joyful space of learning where children feel safe and understood in an environment where they can thrive.