15/04/2016
Palestinian wins $1m Global Teacher Prize 2016
Hanan Al Hroub, from Samiha Khalil High School, Al-Bireh, Palestine, has been awarded the $1 million Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2016, which recognizes outstanding contribution to the profession.
The prize was awarded under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, UAE.
Announced via a special video message broadcast into the Global Teacher Prize ceremony taking place at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) 2016 in Dubai, Pope Francis said: “I would like to congratulate the teacher Hanan Al Hroub for winning this prestigious prize due to the importance that she gave to the ‘playing’ part in the education of the children.”
“A child has the right to play. Part of education is to teach children how to play because you learn how to be social through games as well as learn the joy of life.
“A population that is not well educated because of the wars, or by other reasons that exist in order not to get any education, is a population that decays. That is why I would like to highlight the noble profession of a teacher,” he added.