Kenyan teacher awarded $1m prize

A SCIENCE teacher in a remote village in Kenya has won a $1million prize ahead of 10,000 other applicants.

Peter Tabichi teaches in the semi-arid village of Pwani, where almost a third of children are orphans or have only one parent, and where drought and famine are frequent.

Classrooms are poorly equipped and the school, which teaches students aged 11 to 16, has just one computer with intermittent internet access.

Mr Tabichi was selected out of 10,000 applicants for the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize.

He was presented with his £756,800 award in Dubai by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid almaktoum at a ceremony which was hosted by the actor Hugh Jackman.

Despite the obstacles his students face, Mr Tabichi is credited with helping many stay in school, qualify for international competitions in science and engineering and go on to college.

Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of Kenya, said Mr Tabichi’s story “is the story of Africa”.

In his speech, Mr Tabichi said his mother died when he was 11 years old, leaving his father, a teacher, to raise him and his siblings alone.

Thanking his father for instilling Christian values in him, he invited him up on the stage and handed him the award to hold as the room erupted in cheers.