Some achievements deserve celebration not simply because of the honor bestowed, but because they say something about who we are, what we can do, and the Caribbean’s contribution to the world. The announcement that researchers associated with The University of the West Indies have been awarded the 2026 Yidan Prize for Education Development, widely regarded as the world’s highest accolade in education, is such a moment.
Carib News proudly joins the University, Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and the international academic community in congratulating Professor Susan P. Walker, Professor Sally Grantham-McGregor and Dr Susan M. Chang-Lopez on this extraordinary recognition.Â
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Their achievement deserves particular attention because this is not recognition for research that remained on the shelves of a university library or within the pages of academic journals. It is recognition for research that began in Jamaica, addressed the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable children, followed the evidence over decades, and ultimately changed international understanding of the importance of early childhood learning and development.
Beginning with pioneering work in Jamaica in the 1980s, the researchers examined what could be done to improve the development of young children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances. Their work demonstrated that nutrition alone, while critically important, was not enough. The interaction between a child and caregiver- the talking, playing, encouragement, stimulation, and learning that take place long before formal schooling begins, can have a profound influence on a child’s future. What may appear to be simple activities in the earliest years of life can affect cognitive development, educational achievement, emotional well-being, and even economic outcomes decades later.Â
From that Jamaican research emerged what became Reach Up, an evidence-based early childhood parenting program designed to help parents and caregivers provide stimulating, nurturing learning experiences for children from birth through age four. One of the great strengths of the program is its practicality. It does not depend upon expensive equipment or sophisticated institutions unavailable to poorer communities. It uses play, conversation, everyday interaction, and affordable or homemade materials, while working through people and organizations already serving families.
What began in Jamaica has become a global contribution. The Reach Up approach and the research behind it have now influenced programs across 21 low- and middle-income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of children and families have already been reached, while an adaptation in Brazil is scaling toward reaching some 1.5 million children.
That journey, from Jamaican communities to international influence, is itself worthy of celebration.
We should understand what this achievement says about The University of the West Indies. Too often, institutions in developing countries are viewed as consumers of knowledge produced elsewhere. Important research is assumed to originate in the great universities of North America and Europe and then make its way to the Caribbean and other developing regions. This achievement turns that assumption on its head. Here is research rooted in Jamaica, developed through Caribbean scholarship and experience, that has helped reshape global thinking about childhood development.
That should be a source of enormous pride throughout the region.
Professor Susan P. Walker is Emeritus Professor of Nutrition at UWI’s Caribbean Institute for Health Research, while Dr Susan M. Chang-Lopez is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute. Professor Sally Grantham-McGregor, now Emeritus Professor of International Child Health and Development at University College London, has deep roots in the University of the West Indies, where her groundbreaking work in child development was developed over many years. Together, their careers remind us of the importance of sustained research, institutional support, collaboration and, perhaps above all, patience. Transformative research rarely occurs overnight. This work has developed across approximately four decades.
The Yidan Prize recognizes not merely an interesting academic finding but an idea that has been tested, followed, refined, adapted and expanded. The original children involved in the Jamaica research were followed into adulthood, allowing researchers to demonstrate that early interventions could produce benefits lasting far beyond childhood. Few research projects have the opportunity, discipline and commitment to establish impact over such an extended period. That is part of what makes this work internationally significant.
The award itself is substantial. The 2026 laureates will share HK$30 million, approximately US$3.8 million, including funding designed to help advance and expand their work. But as important as the financial award may be, its greater value lies in the international recognition it brings to the researchers, to early childhood development and to the intellectual contribution of the Caribbean.
There is also a larger lesson here for Caribbean governments, businesses, philanthropists and institutions. We must invest in our universities. We must support serious research. We must give talented Caribbean scholars the resources and institutional environment necessary to pursue difficult questions over many years. Research is not a luxury reserved for wealthy nations. It is one of the instruments through which societies understand their problems, develop solutions and contribute to human advancement.
The University of the West Indies has once again demonstrated that world-class scholarship does not depend upon geography. Excellence can emerge from Kingston and travel to the world. A Caribbean university can develop knowledge that influences global policy and improves the lives of children thousands of miles away. Our region need not merely participate in international conversations; with investment, discipline and confidence, it can help lead them.
Carib News therefore extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Susan P. Walker, Professor Sally Grantham-McGregor and Dr Susan M. Chang-Lopez, and to The University of the West Indies and the many researchers, families, health workers, partner institutions and communities whose contributions over the years made this extraordinary achievement possible.
We celebrate them not merely because they have won one of education’s greatest prizes, but because they have demonstrated something our Caribbean community must never forget: our size does not determine the size of our contribution.
From research that began with children and families in Jamaica has come knowledge capable of transforming the lives of children around the world.
That is Caribbean excellence at its best.
Carib News salutes The University of the West Indies and the 2026 Yidan Prize laureates.
