GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize for Visionary Educators ( US $1 million prize)

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The GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize applications and nominations are NOW OPEN. Do you know a teacher making a difference? This is your chance to shout about them! Varkey Foundation is thrilled to announce that applications and nominations are open for the GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize, a Varkey Foundation initiative organised in collaboration with UNESCO!

Varkey Foundation is so proud that this US $1 million prize has been recognising exceptional teachers for a decade and is once again looking for visionary educators who are reinventing learning, tackling local challenges, and changing lives far beyond the classroom!

Global Teacher Prize Benefits

US $1 million prize for the Winner
The Prize will be paid to the winner (or, in the event of death, his personal representatives or beneficiary(ies), as applicable) by VF in equal annual instalments of US$100,000 over a period of ten (10) years.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, an Applicant must:

be at least eighteen (18) years old at time of entry;
must be a currently working teacher who teaches children that are in compulsory schooling, or are between the ages of 5 and 18. Teachers who teach children age 4+ in an Early Years government-recognised curriculum are also eligible, as are teachers who teach on a part-time basis, and teachers of online courses.
spend at least 10 hours per week teaching children face-to-face, and plan to remain in the teaching profession for the next 5 years.
not be prohibited from participating in the Contest or receiving the Prize under the applicable law of their country;
not, nor any connected person of an Applicant, have a criminal record;
not, nor any connected person of an Applicant, have conducted themselves (by act or omission) in such a way as to bring the teaching profession or VF, its affiliates, any GEMS Education group company, or their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, and subsidiaries (“VF Parties”) into disrepute or to have been adversely prejudicial to the interests of any of them (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF);
not be a previous Prize winner; and
not be a previous Top 10 candidate.

Selection Criteria:

The judges will evaluate Applications based on the following criteria:

Employing effective instructional practices that are replicable and scalable to influence the quality of education globally.
Employing innovative instructional practices that address the particular challenges of the school, community or country and which have shown sufficient evidence to suggest they could be effective in addressing such challenges in a new way.
Achieving demonstrable student learning outcomes in the classroom.
Impact in the community beyond the classroom that provide unique and distinguished models of excellence for the teaching profession and others.
Helping children become global citizens through providing them with a values-based education that equips them for a world where they will potentially live, work and socialise with people from many different nationalities, cultures and religions.
Improving the teaching profession through helping to raise the bar of teaching, sharing best practice, and helping colleagues overcome any challenges they face in their school.
Teacher recognition from governments, national teaching organisations, head-teachers, colleagues, members of the wider community or pupils.