Representatives from the children's palace in Kangbashi district pose for a group photo after the awards ceremony of the fifth China Education Innovation Expo held in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, Nov 20. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Release]

An education innovation project of the children’s palace in Kangbashi district, Ordos, in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, won top prize -- SERVE Award -- at a ceremony during the fifth China Education Innovation Expo held in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, Nov 20.

According to local media reports, only 34 education innovation projects receive awards, and the project the children's palace of Kangbashi district was the only award winner from the autonomous region.

Since mid-June this year, the expo's organizing committee received more than 2,100 educational innovation projects. The China Education Innovation Institute (CEII) of Beijing Normal University (BNU) organized 100 experts to conduct preliminary evaluation, elimination and re-evaluation of these submissions.

First proposed by Liu Jian, the dean of CEII, at the first China Education Innovation Expo in 2015, the SERVE mode was mainly used to answer the question: What is a good education innovation?

After five years of testing and continuous optimization, the SERVE mode has developed into an evaluation standard system for educational innovations, providing excellent guidance and help for the discovery, selection, cultivation and optimization of education innovation results.

This year's expo lasted from Nov 20 to Nov 23. Since 2015, the expo has been held once a year. It is the only educational event in China that is hosted by colleges and universities directly under ministries and commissions of the Central Government, and it aims to promote education innovation and serve the educational practices of our country in an all-round way.