Indian Teacher wins US $1 million Global Teacher Prize 2020

A primary school teacher from India was named the winner of the US$1 million Global Teacher Prize 2020 on Thursday, in recognition for his marvellous efforts to promote girls’ education and spark a coded textbook revolution in India.

Ranjitsinh Disale, 32, from the village of Paritewadi in the Solapur district of Maharashtra, won the contest, the Global Teacher Prize 2020 among 10 finalists from around the world. The annual award was established by the Varkey Foundation in 2014 to recognize an exceptional teacher who made an outstanding contribution to the profession.

But surprisingly, Disale, who believes that teachers are the “true changemakers” of the world, announced that he would share 50% of his prize with his other finalists to support their incredible work. “COVID-19 has exposed education and the communities it serves in many different ways. But in these challenging times, teachers are doing their best to ensure every student has access to their birthright to a good education,” said Disale.

Disale believes that teachers or ‘Gurus’ are the real change-makers in the society who are changing the lives of their students with a mixture of chalk and challenges. They always believe in giving and sharing. Therefore, he was very pleased to announce that he will share 50 % of US $1 million Global Teacher Prize 2020, equally among my fellow top 10 finalists to support their incredible work. “I believe, together, we can change this world because sharing is growing,” he said.

His gesture means that the other nine finalists will receive just over $55,000 each, marking history as the first recipient to share his prize. “By sharing the prize money, you are teaching the world the importance of giving,” said education philanthropist Sunny Varkey, the founder of the Global Teacher Prize 2020.

Mr Disale was selected in the top 10 in the Global Teacher Prize 2020, from over 12,000 nominations and applications from over 140 countries, alongside Olasunkanmi Opeifa from Nigeria, Jamie Frost from the UK, Carlo Mazzone from Italy, Mokhudu Cynthia Machaba from South Africa, Leah Juelke from the US, Yun Jeong-Hyun from South Korea, Samuel Isaiah from Malaysia and Doani Emanuela Bertan from Brazil.

At last, Mr Disale has also planned to launch an initiative where at least 5000 students from war-affected countries will be recruited into a Peace Army, each year.

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