Vatican City: Pope Francis has announced the second international prize for teachers set up by a Non-Resident Indian foundation.
The Pope used a video-message to announce on March 13 that Hanan al-Hroub won the US$1-million Global Teacher Prize set up the Varkey Foundation.
The Palestinian primary school teacher received the award at a ceremony in Dubai March 13 evening, Vatican Radio reported.
The Pope’s announcement had been previously recorded in the Vatican, and was played at the awards ceremony.
“I would like to congratulate the teacher Hanan Al Hroub for winning this prestigious prize due to the importance she gives to the role of play in a child’s education,” Pope Francis said.
The winner teaches in the West Bank city of al-Bireh just outside Ramallah. She grew up in a refugee camp, and now teaches refugees.
“A child has the right to play,” Pope Francis said and added, “Part of education is to teach children how to play, because you learn how to be social though games, and you learn the joy of life.”
Al-Hroub later told the Associated Press it was “amazing” to hear the Pope say her name, and said she would use the million-dollar prize money to create scholarships for students who excel in order to encourage them to choose careers in teaching.
During her acceptance speech, Al-Hroub reiterated her commitment to non-violence and dialogue, a theme also touched on in Pope Francis’ video-message.
“A population that is not well educated because of wars, or by other reasons that exist in order not to get any education, is a population that decays,” said Pope Francis. “That is why I would like to highlight the noble profession of a teacher.”
The Varkey Foundation, a global charitable foundation, launched the annual prize in 2014 to honor an outstanding pioneering teacher who has had a widespread impact.
The first prize went to Nancie Atwell, an innovative and pioneering English teacher and teacher trainer in rural Maine, in March 2015. She runs a school where students read an average of 40 books a year, choose the books they read, and write prolifically. Atwell has authored nine books on teaching, including one that has sold more than half a million copies. She donated her prize money to the upkeep, development, and scholarships of her school.
The Varkey foundation was formed in 2010 by Sunny Varkey, a Non-Resident Indian who founded Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) Education, the world’s largest operator of kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools. It focuses on improving the standards of education for underprivileged children.
Born in Kerala in 1957, Varkey became a Dubai-based education entrepreneur and education philanthropist. GEMS Education has a network of more than 130 schools in over a dozen countries. He is also the chairman of the umbrella business organization the Varkey Group.
Bill Clinton launched the Varkey Foundation that tries to improve global teacher capacity by training tens of thousands of teachers and principals in developing countries. It provides access to education through a variety of programs and projects. It also encourages research to help develop, education policies worldwide.
The Global Teacher Prize aims to raise the status of teaching. The judging is done by the Global Teacher Prize Academy, comprisign head teachers, education experts, commentators, journalists, public officials, tech entrepreneurs, company directors, and scientists from around the world. The first l prize had received more than 5,000 nominations from 127 countries.