Inner-city art teacher wins global million-dollar prize

AN ART and textiles teacher from an inner-city school in the UK has won a million-dollar prize.

Andria Zafirakou, who works at Alperton Community School in Brent, north-west London, was one of 10 finalists shortlisted for the fourth annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.

The 39-year-old hailed the power of the arts after being named as the winner of the award, which recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.

In a congratulatory video message played during the ceremony in Dubai, Prime Minister Theresa May said that the prize was a “fitting tribute” for everything Ms Zafirakou had done.

Alperton Community School is in one of the poorest areas of the country and pupils come from a variety of backgrounds.

Ms Zafirakou has learnt how to say basic greetings in many of the 35 languages spoken at the school, including Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil and Portuguese, to help parents feel welcome and included.

She redesigned the curriculum with fellow teachers to make it relevant to pupils, helped set up girls-only sports clubs for those from conservative communities and is also known for taking the time to understand students’ lives by visiting their homes and even joining them on the bus.

Ms Zafirakou is the first UK teacher to win the award.