ON JUNE 6, 2018, nominations for the 2019 edition of the Global Teachers’ Award were officially opened.
Education charity, the Varkey Foundation, organizes the $1 million award annually in Dubai, and is urging Ghanaian teachers to apply.
Andria Zafirakou, who was awarded $1million when declared the winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2018 in March, has also encouraged Ghanaian teachers to apply for the award.
Professor Sitsofe Enyonam Anku, a mathematics teacher at Meagasa Mathematics Academy, Lashibi, Accra, was shortlisted for the last prize, having been selected from over 30,000 nominations and applications from 173 countries around the world.
The Foundation in a statement issued by its media consultants, Apollo Strategic Communications, says nominations can be made via www.globalteacherprize.org and the closing date for applications is Sunday, 9 September, 2018.
If Ghanaian teachers apply, or are nominated and then apply, the statement said they could be potentially shortlisted as ‘top 50’ candidates later in the year, and their inspirational stories publicized. This could help raise the bar of respect for the profession.
It said the applicants for the Global Teacher Prize 2019 would be shortlisted to a ‘top 50’ (expected to be announced in December 2018) and later to a final ‘top 10’ (expected to be announced in February 2019).
According to the statement, the winner will be chosen from the 10 finalists by the Global Teacher Prize Academy made up of prominent individuals.
All 10 finalists will be flown to Dubai for an award ceremony taking place at the Global Education and Skills Forum in March 2019, where the winner will be announced live.
The prize is open to teachers who teach children between the ages of five and 18.
Teachers who teach children (age 4+ in an early years government-recognized curriculum) are also eligible, including teachers who teach on a part-time basis and those of online courses, according to the organizers.
It indicated that teachers must spend at least 10 hours per week teaching children and plan to remain in the profession for the next five years.
According to the statement, if teachers were being nominated, the person nominating them will write a brief description online explaining why the teacher deserves nomination.
“The teacher being nominated will then be sent an email letting them know they’ve been nominated, inviting them to apply for the prize. Applicants can apply in English, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian,” the statement concluded.
BY Melvin Tarlue