Bangkok, August 11, 2026 - Team GENWISE, consisting of students from the Faculty of Language and Literature Education (FPBS), Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), from the Master’s Program in Arabic Language Education and the Master’s Program in English Language Education, won three awards in an international essay competition. The team presented an innovation in web-based learning media using multimodal texts through folktales that integrate gender equality issues into language learning.
The essay competition, titled the 3rd International Student Competition (ISC), was held on August 8-9, 2026, in Bangkok, Thailand, under the theme “Empowering Youth to Create Inclusive and Creative Solutions for Global Sustainability Goals.” The competition was organized by the International Student Community in collaboration with the Faculty of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Students from more than five countries in Asia participated, making the event a platform for Southeast Asian students to share learning outcomes and offer solutions to social and scientific issues while strengthening international student connections.
In the competition, Team GENWISE presented an idea entitled “Empowering Gender Equality through Web-Based Multimodal Texts ‘GENWISE’ to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Language Education.” This idea was realized through a website called GENWISE, a multimodal text-based learning medium that combines stories and interactive illustrations. Its content is available in three languages: English, Indonesian, and Sundanese.
GENWISE is equipped with an Assessment menu that helps users measure their reading comprehension of the provided texts. In addition, there are three alternative endings that represent how each choice may lead to different consequences, particularly in illustrating whether gender equality is realized within the storyline.
For this idea, Team GENWISE achieved three outstanding accomplishments. First, UPI was named Grand Champion as the main winner of the ISC competition and received an E-Certificate as well as the grand trophy. Second, the team won a Gold Medal in the Education subtheme category and received a medal and E-Certificate. Third, the team earned the position of 3rd Runner Up in the overall ISC competition, along with a trophy, E-Certificate, and development funding.
Team GENWISE consists of Abdullah Haryono, a student of the Master’s Program in Arabic Language Education, as well as Nafisa Khoiriah, Larissa Ramadhan Fausta Salma, and Florence Evelin Masumbauw, students of the Master’s Program in English Language Education. The team stated that the GENWISE idea aligns with the competition theme, which highlights creative solutions to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through GENWISE, the team not only seeks to support students in becoming strong language learners, but also encourages them to become more critical, empathetic individuals with the awareness of global citizens regarding gender equality issues. This idea supports SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 5: Gender Equality through contextual and inclusive language learning.
The success of Team GENWISE demonstrates the dedication, learning spirit, creativity, and capability of UPI students in developing innovations in language education that respond to social and global issues. This achievement also shows the students’ ability to integrate language, local culture, technology, and gender equality issues into an idea relevant to sustainable development goals.
This achievement is expected to inspire other students to continue developing their potential, broadening their horizons, and boldly presenting innovations while competing in various national and international events.