Dubai ruler presents Canadian teacher with $1m prize

Canadian teacher Maggie McDonnell has been awarded the prestigious $1m Global Teacher Prize at a ceremony in Dubai for her work with students in a remote Inuit village.

McDonnell was presented the award by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, for her work in Salluit, a village deep in the Canadian Arctic that is only accessible by air.

During her six years at Ikusik School, she was credited with creating a life skills programme that improved registration for girls by 500 per cent and for encouraging pupils to work in a community kitchen.

She is also a temporary foster parent to children in the area and has attended suicide prevention training in a town prone to high staff turnover and challenging conditions.

Teenagers in the area often resort to drink, drugs and self-harm due to deprivation and isolation.

In 2015 alone, Salluit saw six suicides among men aged 18 to 25 in a total population of 1,300

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent McDonnell a congratulatory video message and in an acceptance speech she said she wanted to share the award with her students.

McDonnell plans to use the $1m prize money to start an NGO.

The Global Teacher prize was setup by the founder of GEMS Education and the Varkey Foundation Sunny Varkey, who said he hoped the story of McDonnell would inspire others looking to enter the teaching profession.