Ranjitsinh Disale, a teacher at Zilla Parishad Primary School, located in the village of Paritewadi in Maharashtra, has won the 2020 Global Teacher Prize by the UNESCO. He was selected amongst 12,000 nominations and applications, from over 140 countries around the world. The prize entitles him to be awarded $1 million, half of which he has vowed to give away to the runners up.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed education and the communities it serves in a multitude of ways. But in this hard time, teachers are giving their best to make sure every student has access to their birthright of a good education,” said Disale, as per PTI. “Teachers are the real change-makers who are changing the lives of their students with a mixture of chalk and challenges. They always believe in giving and sharing,” he said. “I believe, together, we can change this world because sharing is growing,” Disale added.
He learned the local language of the village in order to translate class textbooks into his pupils’ mother tongue.
He also created unique QR codes on the textbooks to give students access to audio poems, video lectures, stories and assignments, greatly improving school attendance. His QR technology is now being rolled out more widely across India.
The Global Teacher Prize is awarded to an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession. This year’s Top 10 were selected from over 12,000 applications and nominations from over 140 countries around the world.
Wow! Here’s THE MOMENT Stephen Fry announced Ranjitsinh Disale as the Winner of The Global Teacher Prize 2020! Congratulations Ranjit! Watch here: https://t.co/9t5GXaIJ58 @ranjitdisale @stephenfry #GTP2020 #TeachersMatter #globalteacherprize #India @NHM_London @UNESCO pic.twitter.com/eQjSosGQwY
— Global Teacher Prize (@TeacherPrize) December 3, 2020