Global Teacher Prize 2020
Country: United Kingdom
Presented by: Varkey Foundation
First awarded: 2015
Reward: Prize money of $ 1 million.
Website:www.globalteacherprize.org
Ranjitsinh Disale, a primary school teacher from India, has been awarded the Global Teacher Prize for a prize of US $ 1 million or INR 7 crores for promoting the education of girls. On receiving the honor, 32-year-old Ranjit Singh of Paritewadi village in Maharashtra's Solapur district has announced to share the winning amount with the remaining 9 contestants who have reached the finals. The story of Ranjit Singh's struggle, which has raised the pride of the country on the international stage, is inspiring for everyone.
Ranjit Singh wanted to become an IT engineer, but after reaching the engineering college, he realised that he might be on the wrong track. His father suggested him to do teaching training. With Ranjit hesitant, he went to the teacher training college and after reaching there, his life got a new direction. He saw that teachers make real changes in the world, and he decided to become a teacher himself.
The school he initially taught was in a dilapidated building built between a cattle shed and a warehouse. Most of the girls studying there were from tribal communities. Education of girls was not given priority in that part of society and child marriage was a common practice. In addition, Kannada was not the primary language of the students to study, which meant that many students were uncomfortable to read. After much effort, Ranjith learned Kannada herself and redesigned all the books for students up to grade 1-4. They framed these books with unique QR codes to embed audio poems, video lectures, stories and assignments. With the help of these QR coded books, many girls continued studying at a time when schools were closed for two months due to a terrorist attack.
As a result of his efforts, in 2016 his school was awarded as the best school in the district where 98 percent of the students had completed their learning before completing the school session. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella selected Ranjit Singh's work as one of the three best stories in India in his book 'Hit Refresh'. The Central Government honoured Ranjit Singh as the '2016 Innovative Researcher of the Year' and also won the National Innovation Foundation's 'Innovator of the Year' award in 2018.
Ranjit Singh shared his methods by writing more than 500 newspaper articles and blogs on educational topics, participating in television discussions. He announced that on winning the 'Global Teacher Prize', he would like to share 50% of his prize money with his other 9 finalists. Praising his move, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education Stephanie Giannini said, "Only teachers like Ranjit Singh will build a more peaceful and just society. Ranjit will eliminate inequalities and advance economic development." Apart from this, the founder of the award, Sunny Varkey, said, "By sharing the prize money, you are teaching the importance of giving to the world."
Ranjit Singh has also initiated this initiative to ensure that every year at least 5,000 students from war-affected countries of the world are admitted to a peace army. With the help of the amount won in the award, Ranjit intends to help the schools and the students to the maximum potential.
List of Global Teacher Prize winner
Year: Name
2015 Nancie Atwell
2016 Hanan Al Hroub
2017 Maggie MacDonnell
2018 Andria Zafirakou
2019 Peter Tabichi
2020 Ranjitsinh Disale