Three Palestinians among nominees for the ‘Nobel Prize’ of teaching award

Three Palestinian teachers are among the final 50 nominees for global teacher of the year - a million-dollar award that organisers hope will come to be seen as a 'Nobel Prize’ for teaching. The Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize is backed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and actor Kevin Spacey is on the judging panel. The final 50 were picked from 8,000 applicants from 148 countries - but only India and the United States have received more nominations than the Palestinians.

We are Palestinians. There are Palestinians all over the world and I educate my kids to be ready to build a future, to be part of a society, and to be good citizens, not just in their own society, but in any society, anywhere in the world.

Hanan Al Haroub, a maths teacher from Samiha Khalil school in Ramallah

The Palestinian nominees have welcomed the recognition, saying they hope it may go some way in counteracting the criticisms made by Israeli politicians, that Palestinian schools teach children to hate. "We teach our children co-operation and to accept the other. We teach them to respect different opinions,“ said Hanan Al Haroub, a maths teacher from Samiha Khalil school in Ramallah. She has been recognised for her techniques in encouraging primary age children to learn through active games in the classroom. Another of the nominees is Fidaq Zaatari, an information technology teacher from Nablus who has been recognised for her championing of girls pursuing further education. The third Palestinian nominee is history teacher Jawdat Sisan from Bir Naballa. He has a 100% pass rate for his students.

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