Three teachers from India have made it to the top 50 shortlist unveiled in London on Thursday for the annual USD 1-million Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2020, held in partnership with UNESCO.

Citizenship teacher Shuvajit Payne from Shiksha Niketan Barefoot College in Rajasthan, primary school teacher Ranjitsinh Disale from Zilla Parishad Primary School in Paritewadi, Solapur, Maharashtra, and computer science teacher Vineeta Garg from SRDAV Public School in Delhi were selected from over 12,000 nominations and applications across 140 countries.

“It’s like a dream. My students and I are very happy to have made it to the top 50. Our hard work has paid off,” said Disale, credited as an innovator for using technology to improve primary education with his project of “QR Coded Text Books” – linking up video and audio content in different languages and dialects.

“I believe the recognition that this prize offers to an individual fuels motivation. It also puts their work under a spotlight. Moreover, being in the network of 50 educators who are on the shortlist opens up a lot of possibilities through exchange of ideas and learning,” said Payne. He is the Head of Education at Barefoot College, responsible for the curriculum and operations of 50 informal community schools addressing the needs of rural India.

Now in its sixth year, the Global Teacher Prize was set up to recognise one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society. It has now partnered with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to closely tie in with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 – providing a quality education for every child.

“Now, more than ever, in a world of competing priorities, governments throughout the world must invest in teachers to meet their commitments to deliver universal quality education by 2030,” said Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO.

The top 50 shortlisted teachers will be whittled down to 10 finalists by a Prize Committee, with that result set to be announced in June 2020. The winner of the 2020 prize is scheduled to be announced at a ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London on October 12.

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation and the Global Teacher Prize, said, “The Global Teacher Prize will start this new decade with renewed purpose and energy, moving the prize ceremony around the world, spreading the message deeper into new host countries, and making the prize’s reputation live up to its name as a true global celebration of teachers.”

Source: PTI