Bogra teacher nominated for $1m global award

She has been included in the top 50 short-list for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2017, the biggest award for teachers in the world, according to a press release. Shahanaj teaches at Upazilla Sadar Model Government Primary School at Sherpur upazila in Bogra. According to the release, the $1m award, now in its third year, is the largest of its kind in the world. The top 50 short-list can be seen at globalteacherprize.org.

I've been nominated as the world's top 50 teachers for Global teacher prize for 2017. Thank you.@TeacherPrize #TeachersMatter @varkeyfdn pic.twitter.com/3WtHEIrtyz

— Shahanaj Parvin (@ShahanajSp) December 14, 2016

Shahanaj was born in a remote Bangladeshi village to two primary school teachers. While many children in Bangladesh drop out of school in order to support their families through earning; the dropout rate was vastly reduced by Shahanaj’s teaching methods that emphasised technology and multimedia applications. Besides regularly conducting training workshops for new teachers, the school teacher has published research on why students generally fail to achieve standard primary education. Earlier, she was awarded Best Teacher of Upazilla in 2010, and Best Female Teacher in the country in 2013.

Know an exceptional teacher? Nominate for the $1 million Global #TeacherPrize https://t.co/ryt2wV22GQ— Shahanaj Parvin (@ShahanajSp) October 13, 2016

The Global Teacher Prize was set up to recognise, from across the globe, one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as played an important role in society as a teacher. The prize intends to return teachers to their rightful position as one of the most respected professions in society. The top 50 teachers were shortlisted from over 20,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries from around the world. The shortlist has representatives from 37 countries. The name of the winner will be announced at the Global Education and Skills Forum scheduled to be held in Dubai on March 19, 2017.