Search for world's best teacher begins in UAE

Sunny Varkey wants to regain respect for the teaching profession, and the Chairman of GEMS Education is putting up some serious money to back up this goal — $1 million (Dh3.67 million) as annual prize money for the best teacher in the world.

In the past, “respect for teachers was taken as a given [but] respect, reward and the status of teachers has diminished over a period of time,” said Varkey. “Today, you will find there is a shortage of good teachers, and not too many good students choose teaching as a profession.

“The whole exercise of what we are trying to do with this prize money is make an attempt to celebrate teachers as stars, make it as prestigious as winning a Nobel or an Oscar. It’s very much an annual award.”

The $1 million prize is open to any educator, current or former, “who has made the greatest impact on learning and student development in their nation”, according to Varkey’s GEMS Foundation. Obviously, the net is being cast wide to seek out the educator with the best credentials.

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Search for world’s best teacher begins in UAE