Ramallah: Palestinian teacher Nesreen Qutainah has been shortlisted for a $1 million prize to become the World’s best teacher, Wafaa News Agency reported on Friday.
She was selected in the final list of the 50 best teachers nominated for the Global Teacher Prize 2021 in its seventh edition, presented by the Varkey Foundation in partnership with UNESCO.
Nesreen Qutainah, is a science and maths teacher at Dura Martyrs Elementary School in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Qutainah was chosen as one of the finalists among more than 8,000 candidates and applicants from 121 countries around the world.
As per the media reports, the Palestinian education minister Marwan Awartani congratulated Nesreen Qutainah on this achievement, despite the limitations facing Palestinian teachers due to the Israeli occupation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is noteworthy that Qutainah is an internationally certified coach with Microsoft — which named her as an Innovative Teacher — and trains educators from other Arab countries on the use of technology.
In 2019, she won the title of best teacher in Palestine and in the year 2020 she won Palestine’s achievement and excellence award for supporting education.
The shortlist will be reduced in October with the overall winner announced at the awards ceremony in Paris in November.
The international teacher prize aims to recognize the best teacher who provides outstanding performance and contributions in the field of education, and to highlight the important and noble role that teachers play in society.