Teacher shares $ 1m prize for his lockdown maths lessons
MATHS teacher Jamie Frost has won an international award for educating children around the world during the pandemic – and a slice of a $ 1million prize.
Londoner Jamie, who failed the 11- plus, beat competition from thousands of his peers after sharing his expertise online, helping millions of youngsters.
He made the shortlist of 10 but narrowly missed out on the $ 1million (£ 774,000) overall prize.
However, he will get £ 33,000 after the ultimate winner Ranjitsinh Disale – a village primary teacher from India – decided to share half his windfall among the other finalists.
Former City banker Jamie also scooped a Covid hero award for his extraordinary achievement in an online ceremony yesterday hosted by Stephen Fry.
His Dr Frost Maths website and its free resources are used by more than 7,500 schools around the world, including twothirds of secondaries in
England. They have been downloaded more than eight million times.
The 34- year- old, who teaches maths at Tiffin secondary in Kingston, southwest London, said: “I feel absolutely fantastic. It’s such an honour to receive this award.
“I’m just so happy that so many students have been able to benefit from my site. That’s what I want really.”
Ingenuity
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his ingenuity had “given hope and support to millions of children” worldwide. Jamie, from Chessington, survived meningitis at six and after failing his 11- plus went to a school with “CCTV cameras in every class”.
But he added: “My maths teacher was a nice guy and knew I was quite able.
“He said I didn’t have to take part in lessons but could get on with my own stuff.” The star teacher attended Tiffin sixth form then Oxford University, where he won a heap of prizes. After graduating he worked in “soul destroying” investment banking before leaving to do a PhD in computer science alongside a team who are now millionaires. But Jamie decided to be a teacher.
He now works more than 90 hours a week, teaching and running the website.
Overall prize winner Ranjitsinh was honoured for ensuring disadvantaged girls get an education and running online science lessons for pupils in 83 countries.