A Palestinian teacher who grew up in a refugee camp has won a million-dollar award dubbed the “Nobel Prize for teaching.”
A Palestinian teacher who grew up in a refugee camp has won a million-dollar award dubbed the “Nobel Prize for teaching.”
Hanan Al Hroub, from Samiha Khalil School in the West Bank, was awarded the Global Teacher Prize at a ceremony in Dubai on Sunday. The award was announced in a video message by Pope Francis. The prize recognises those who have made an outstanding contribution to the profession. Al Hroub specialises in supporting children who have been traumatised by violence. “An incident of this level elicits a long history of human struggle to achieve victory for the human being,” she said after winning the prize. “I accept this as a win for all teachers in general and Palestinian teachers in particular.”
“We, as teachers can build the values and morals of young minds to ensure a fair world, a more beautiful world and a more free world.” Al Hroub went into primary education after her children were left deeply traumatised by a shooting incident they witnessed on their way home from school.
In a video message, Prince William congratulated all the prize’s finalists. “A good teacher holds the power to influence, inspire and shape a young person’s life for the better,” he said. “They represent the key to real change in this world.”
Al Hroub will receive $1 million and will be required to serve as a global ambassador for the Varkey Foundation, which runs the prize. She will also be required to remain working as a classroom teacher for at least five years, a condition of winning the prize. Speaking ahead of the announcement, Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, said he hoped the award would “shine a light on the incredible work teachers do throughout the world every day.”
The audience for the event included Hollywood stars like Salma Hayek and Matthew McConaughey and Bollywood stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar. The top 10 finalists were invited on stage by a video message from physicist Stephen Hawking and were congratulated by video messages from US vice-president Joe Biden and former US President Bill Clinton. The finalists for the Global Teacher Prize included teachers from India, Kenya, Finland and the United States. Thirty-year-old Indi-an teacher Robin Chaura-siya was among top 10 finalists. Chaurasiya runs a not-for-profit school in Mumbai for girls from the city’s red light district of Kamatipura. Chaurasiya, founder of Kranti School, refers to her students, aged 12-20, as “Krantikaries” (revolutionaries) who are victims of trafficking and daughters of sex workers and many of whom joined her in Dubai for the ceremony.
