mlenthusiast at NakbaArchiveClassifier Shared Task: A Lightweight SVM-Gated Ensemble of EfficientNets for Image Classification

Md. Ajwad Hossain


Abstract
Image classification under strict time constraints requires a delicate balance between feature complexity and computational overhead. This paper presents an optimized ensemble methodology developed for the NAKABA competition, focusing on identifying structural destruction. We propose a hybrid architecture that leverages two distinct Convolutional Neural Networks (EfficientNetB0 and EfficientNetB3) as base feature extractors, coupled with a Support Vector Machine (SVM) functioning as a meta-classifier. Instead of standard probability averaging or processing high-dimensional embeddings directly, the Meta-SVM acts as a learned gating mechanism to optimally combine the low-dimensional probability predictions of the base models. This ensures robust performance without the latency of heavier deep learning architectures. Empirical results demonstrate the efficacy of this approach. The model achieved a validation accuracy of 0.884 and a weighted F1-score of 0.885, with a notable F1-score of 0.839 on the challenging ’destruction’ class. On the official NAKABA leaderboard test set, the ensemble maintained strong generalization, achieving an F1-score of 0.831 and an accuracy of 0.845, which secured the 12th position overall and proved the model’s high effectiveness within the competition’s strict operational constraints.
Anthology ID:
2026.nakbanlp-1.31
Volume:
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Nakba Narratives as Language Resources @ LREC 2026
Month:
May
Year:
2026
Address:
Palma, Mallorca (Spain)
Editors:
Mustafa Jarrar, Mo El-Haj, Amal Haddad, Serin Atiani, Shadi Abudalfa, Terry Regier, Paul Rayson, Khalil Sima’an, Camille Mansour
Venues:
NakbaNLP | WS
SIG:
Publisher:
ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)
Note:
Pages:
217–220
Language:
External URL:
https://lrec.elra.info/lrec2026-ws-nakbanlp-31
DOI:
10.63317/5aw7xdt47vzs
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Md. Ajwad Hossain. 2026. mlenthusiast at NakbaArchiveClassifier Shared Task: A Lightweight SVM-Gated Ensemble of EfficientNets for Image Classification. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Nakba Narratives as Language Resources @ LREC 2026, pages 217–220, Palma, Mallorca (Spain). ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA).
Cite (Informal):
mlenthusiast at NakbaArchiveClassifier Shared Task: A Lightweight SVM-Gated Ensemble of EfficientNets for Image Classification (Hossain, NakbaNLP 2026)
Copy Citation: