A 'superhero' teacher will be selected from a shortlist of 10 inspirational people on Sunday night to become the recipient of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize.
The winner will be chosen from an original list of 10,000 candidates.
The prize — launched five years ago by the Varkey Foundation and held annually in Dubai — will be given out by actor Hugh Jackman and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
Here are brief biographies on the 10 finalists.
The biographies and pictures are courtesy of the Global Teacher Prize and Varkey Foundation.
Andrew Moffat, Parkfield Community School, Birmingham, UK
Mr Moffat teaches at Parkfield Community School near the deprived Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, which is home to a considerable mix of ethnicities and where more than 90 per cent of pupils speak English as an additional language. His 'No Outsiders' programme teaches inclusiveness and diversity.
Mr Moffat has extended this ethos to parents, through the use of parent / child workshops, and across the UK, with schools in many cities also adopting No Outsiders. He now also uses the programme as a tool to reduce potential for radicalisation.
His work is crucial at a time when hate crimes in England and Wales are rising — figures more than doubled between 2012/13 and 2017/18 to 94,098 recorded offences.
In November 2017, Mr Moffat was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth for services to equality and diversity in education.
Daisy Mertens, De Vuurvogel, Helmond, Netherlands
Winner of the 2016 National Primary Teacher of the Year in the Netherlands, Ms Mertens comes from a small village in the south of the country. Raised in a one-parent family, she often found home life difficult, but always felt safe and free at school. After qualifying as a teacher, she chose to work at a school in a deprived area.
Ms Mertens now works in a large community-based school with 440 pupils representing up to 30 different nationalities. Pupils with severe learning issues are mixed in with gifted children and her pupils face prejudice from others in wealthier areas and have poorer language skills than the average.
Ms Mertens created the High5 initiative, which empowers children to come up with new ideas to encourage the school community to improve the quality of education. The higher purpose is that children become happier, better learners — and ultimately better citizens.
Debora Garofalo, EMEF Almirante Ary Parreiras, São Paulo, Brazil
Ms Garofalo overcame a challenging childhood of poverty and prejudice to train as a teacher. She first worked in Human Resources in the banking industry to raise enough money to undertake teacher training. This gave her great insight into the skills pupils need to succeed in the modern workplace.
When she arrived at her school, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, and near four of the country’s notorious favelas, Ms Garofalo realised that the pupils were not receiving an education in technology which would equip them to thrive in the world of work.
The pupils began with simple projects, and over time, Ms Garofalo has introduced the fundamentals of electronics, and then moved on to more complex robotics. More than 2,000 pupils have been involved in the programme, and have created prototypes of everything from robots and carts, to boats and planes. More than 700kg of rubbish has been turned into something new.
Hidekazu Shoto, Ritsumeikan Primary School, Kyoto, Japan
Mr Hidekazu has found a way to teach fluency in English without the need for foreign travel.
In his youth, Mr Hidekazu wanted to study abroad to become a better English speaker, but financial circumstances did not permit it. After becoming a teacher, he set on a path to teach advanced English language skills without foreign study.
A large part of Mr Hidekazu’s approach is informed by tools such as Skype and Minecraft, which enable communication in English with pupils in other countries. His pupils make friends quickly and have collaborated with primary school pupils in up to 10 foreign countries to create buildings in Minecraft.
His 11-year-olds are scoring higher than the average 14-year-olds in other schools. While about 30 per cent of Japanese pupils say they like English, in Mr Hidekazu’s class the proportion is 94 per cent — which he puts down to the social and tech aspects of his teaching.
From left to right: Melissa Salguero, Bronx, New York, US; Peter Tabichi, Nakuru, Kenya; Swaroop Rawal, Gujarat, India; Vladimer Apkhazava, Chibati Public School, Georgia; Yasodai Selvakumaran, NSW, Australia
Martin Salvetti, Technical Secondary School No 5, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mr Salvetti did not plan to be a teacher, but the profession found him anyway. He began tutoring to earn extra money to get through university, and kept on going. He returned to his own school to tutor and found himself a similar age to his pupils. This meant he could empathise and saw opportunities to improve their education experience. He set up a weekend football club involving pupils and staff.
Acknowledging the benefits of Mr Salvetti’s learning through doing approach, the school engaged with an arts programme, organised by a group of charities. Through this, they won funding to support a radio and cinema project, and a band. Despite many challenges, the radio project persisted, and in 2007, Salvetti and his pupils won a national competition for their work.
Since then, the radio station has thrived. It now broadcasts 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Schools come from across the region to visit and learn from Mr Salvetti’s pupils.
Melissa Salguero, Public School 48 Joseph R Drake, Bronx, US
When Ms Salguero first started teaching at Public School 48, Joseph R Drake Elementary School, the school hadn’t had a music programme for more than 30 years. The school is in the most at-risk area for children in New York City, where more than 59 per cent of children live in poverty and 29 per cent per cent of families live on less than $15,000 (Dh55,000) per year. However, Ms Salguero entered contests, wrote grant applications, and eventually raised enough money and instruments to start the school’s first ever band programme — which was a huge success.
When her programme lost $30,000 due to a theft, her class wrote a song and music video that went viral. It caught the attention of chat show star Ellen DeGeneres, resulting in an invite to her show, where she presented the school with brand new instruments and $50,000.
Peter Tabichi, Keriko Secondary School, Nakuru, Kenya
Mr Tabichi is a science teacher who gives away 80 per cent of his monthly income to help the poor. His dedication, hard work and passionate belief in his pupils’ talent has led his poorly-resourced school in remote rural Kenya to emerge victorious after taking on the country’s best schools in national science competitions.
Turning lives around in a school with only one computer, poor internet, and a pupil-teacher ratio of 58:1, is no easy task.
Ms Tabichi and four colleagues also give low-achieving pupils one-on-one tuition in Maths and Science outside class and on the weekends, where he visits pupils’ homes and meets their families to identify the challenges they face.
By making his pupils believe in themselves, Ms Tabichi has dramatically improved their achievement and self-esteem. Enrolment has doubled to 400 over three years, and cases of indiscipline have fallen from 30 per week to just three.
Swaroop Rawal, Lavad Primary School, Gujarat, India
Ms Rawal never intended to become a teacher, but after becoming a mother and then returning to study at the age of 37, she realised she had something unique to offer. She saw first-hand how some methods of teaching can create stress in children, which then makes its way into the family. Ms Rawal went into teaching to accomplish two goals: to help make children more resilient through life skills education, and to bring new methods to teaching that would help pupils and their teachers reflect, imagine and build their sense of personal worth and agency.
Ms Rawal has also contributed to the understanding of teaching in modern India. She has become a teacher-trainer, presenting papers at more than 40 conferences, and having articles published in international peer-review journals.
Vladimer Apkhazava, Chibati Public School, Georgia
Mr Apkhaza teaches in a very poor region of Georgia where economic pressures are high. The parents of many pupils have had to move to foreign countries for work, financially supporting their families from afar. As a result, many of Mr Apkhaza’s pupils miss breakfast in the morning, and sometimes the school has to call an ambulance in the case of starving children. Many pupils subsequently give up their studies and move to Turkey in search of jobs.
His work tackling child labour even received resistance from officials at one point, though his cause was helped by up by television journalists and began a public debate. He won Georgia's National Teacher Award in 2017.
He has fundraised from the private sector to pay for extra resources and summer camps, and has even given a home to eight teenage boys who had to leave their parents due to domestic violence.
Yasodai Selvakumaran, Rooty Hill High School, New South Wales, Australia
Ms Selvakumaran is recognised in Australia as an outstanding teacher and leader. A Tamil Sri Lankan-born Australian, Ms Selvakumaran’s parents left Sri Lanka among growing civil tensions, and she grew up in rural and regional Australia before moving to Sydney for university.
Her school has a significant enrolment of 65 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pupils, and the wider community often battles with stereotypes that poorer pupils cannot achieve highly, yet Ms Selvakumaran has achieved consistently high results in a school that performs below the state average.
She won the 2014 Australian Council of Educational Leadership Mary Armstrong Award for Outstanding Young Educational Leader, and the Australian Teaching Fellowship for 2018.
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
How to apply for a drone permit
Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
Submit their request
What are the regulations?
Fly it within visual line of sight
Never over populated areas
Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
Should have a live feed of the drone flight
Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Youth YouTuber Programme
The programme will be presented over two weeks and will cover the following topics:
- Learning, scripting, storytelling and basic shots
- Master on-camera presence and advanced script writing
- Beating the algorithm and reaching your core audience
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
