A Pakistani teacher, Salima Begum, from a remote village of Gilgit-Baltistan, has reached the list of ten finalists for the Global Teacher Prize 2017, an initiative of the Varkey Foundation.
The Global Teacher Prize is a US $ 1 million award for an exceptional teacher who has rendered an outstanding contribution to the profession. The prize serves to underline the importance of educators throughout the globe.
Salima Begum believes strongly in students constructing meaning for themselves through the information they receive and holds that classroom activities should correspond closely to real-life situations.
She is going up against finalists from Jamaica, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Kenya and China for the US $1 million award.
During her teaching and learning process, Salima has always tried encourage students to contribute to knowledge, connect with people around the world, and to work together for the betterment of humanity.
She has also helped create awareness amongst parents regarding girls’ education and its benefits, pioneering a strategy for mentoring in the community and encouraging the feeder schools that send pupils to her.
Salima Begum is currently teaching in the Elementary College for Women in Gilgit. Throughout her career, Salima has contributed to teacher training, instructing more than 7,000 teachers of her province besides 8,000 more across the country through education reform programmes.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has acknowledged her contribution to the teacher education project and she has published a number of research articles.
Due to her teaching qualities and guidance, students at her school are known to perform exceptionally well in examinations. Enrollment at her school has also increased because of the outstanding results.
Developing of ethical, moral, and social values in students has been her top priority. She has even designed and implemented an initiative to produce organic fertilisers with the support of her students and the local community, to great success.
Salima Begum told the Varkey Foundation that the most fascinating and inspiring aspect of her teaching career has been to enable students in realising their potential and ability to do things differently and making a difference in their personal life.
