Teachers ready with plans ahead of $1m win

dubai — The final top 10 teachers in the running for Dubai’s $1 million Global Teacher Prize have revealed how they will improve their communities if they win.

They spoke to Khaleej Times ahead of the annual Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF), which kicks off today at the Atlantis, The Palm.

The annual award by the Varkey Foundation will announce the winner in a glitzy ceremony tomorrow. The prize aims to honour teachers who have contributed to their schools despite the challenges faced by their communities.

This year’s forum will see panel sessions and speeches from Rohingya refugees, Sierra Leone’s president, education minister of Palestine and teachers from the US.

Last year’s $1 million award was bagged by UK arts and textiles teacher, Andria Zafirakou, who went out of her way to help students who come from the poorest families in Britain.

This year’s finalists are from India, Australia, the US, Kenya, Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Argentina, the UK and Georgia. They were selected from over 10,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries around the world.

On Saturday evening, the foundation will hold ‘The Assembly: A Global Teacher Prize Concert’ at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, where Little Mix, Rita Ora and Liam Payne will headline the event to raise awareness on the importance of teachers.