Palestinian shortlisted for Global Teacher Prize 2021

Palestinian teacher Nesreen Qutainah, who teaches in the occupied West Bank city of Al-Khalil, Hebron, has been shortlisted for the Global Teacher Prize 2021. 

The Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2021 in partnership with UNESCO announced the top 50 finalists on Thursday, chosen from over 8,000 nominations and applications spanning 121 countries, in the run-up to win the $1 million prize for exceptional teaching. 

"UNESCO is a proud partner of the Global Teacher Prize, which has done so much to highlight teachers’ transformational role in young people’s lives," Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO said. "Inspirational teachers and extraordinary students alike deserve recognition for their commitment to education amid the learning crisis we see today.”

Qutainah teaches science and maths at Dora Primary School for Girls and is well-known for her outstanding work which she says is based on two rules of thumb: “enlighten a mind, and you will revive a person”, and “no to stereotypes, yes to creativity”. 

The primary school teacher also strives to teach her students about their Palestinian heritage, including by creating the Grandparents’ Treasures initiative, where grandparents film videos about their experiences to teach children about the history of Palestine. 

Hanan Al-Hroub, a Palestinian teacher who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp, won the Global Teacher Prize in 2016.

“Education is a human right and it is the right of our children to live their childhood in peace. Education unites us all”, Al-Hroub said when she received the award.