UK teacher named world's best teacher
Andria Zafirakou received the $1m prize at a ceremony in Dubai on Sunday
A north London teacher was announced as the first British winner of a prize for the world’s best teacher in Dubai last night. The finalists were drawn from more than 30,000 nominations in 173 countries.
Andria Zafirakou, an arts and textiles teacher from Alperton community school in Brent, was presented with the fourth annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher prize, which is worth $1m (£720,000).
Former US vice president Al Gore, Tony Blair, Olympic champion Mo Farah and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton attended the “Oscars-style awards ceremony” honouring Zafirakou, says the BBC.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Zafirakou called for more support for arts programs, saying she has “seen how the arts help students to communicate. The arts help to give so much confidence and really create incredible young people.”
The Varkey Foundation, an education charity, launched the prize in 2015 to give the teaching profession more recognition.
Prime Minister Theresa May sent a video message commending Zafirakou that was played during the ceremony, saying that great teachers needed “resilience, ingenuity and a generous heart”.
Alperton community school is in Brent, one of the poorest areas of the country, where about 130 languages are spoken. To build relationships with her students, Zafirakou learned basic phrases in languages including Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil and visited family homes.
“What is amazing is that whatever issues they are having at home, whatever is missing from their life or causing them pain, our school is theirs,” Zafirakou said.
As a prize winner, Zafirakou is required to continue working as a teacher for at least five years. She will be paid the prize money in instalments.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
English literature: is it doomed?
Speed Read Arts and humanities courses are under attack thanks to a shift to ‘skills-led’ learning
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Are UK classrooms a new political battleground?
Speed Read Government has issued new guidance on political neutrality in schools
By The Week Staff Published
-
Kathleen Stock resigns: the ‘hounding’ of an academic on the front line of transgender rights debate
Speed Read Sussex University students claim ‘trans and non-binary students are safer and happier for it’
By The Week Staff Published
-
How 100,000 ‘lost children’ disappeared from UK school system
Speed Read Experts warn that vulnerable pupils may be recruited by gangs after failing to return to education post-lockdown
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Why is the government planning to cut arts education funding by 50%?
Speed Read Proposal described by critics as ‘catastrophic’ and ‘an attack on the future of UK arts’
By Kate Samuelson Last updated
-
Schools do not spread Covid-19, multiple studies find
Speed Read Reports from Germany, Norway and the WHO conclude schoolchildren are not vector of infection
By Holden Frith Published
-
Universities must consider refunding students hit by Covid disruption, regulator warns
Speed Read Institutions under investigation as thousands of undergraduates remain locked down amid coronavirus outbreaks
By Arion McNicoll Last updated
-
Coronavirus: will UK schools have to close again?
Speed Read Thousands of teachers are self-isolating - but the government is determined not to order new closures
By Holden Frith Published