PRESS RELEASE
STRICTLY EMBARGOED TO 01:01 MADRID (00:01 GMT)WEDNESDAY22 FEBRUARY 2017
SPANISH TEACHERDAVID CALLEMAKES FINAL TEN FOR US$1 MILLION GLOBAL TEACHER PRIZE 2017
Prince Harry pays tribute to teachers in a video message as top ten finalists are announced
David Calle,from Madrid, Spain, the founder and creator of the Unicoos educational website, has been named a top 10 finalist for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2017, which is announced today at
Now in its third year, the US $1 millionaward is the largest prize of its kind, and was set up to recognize one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society. By unearthing thousands of stories of heroes that have transformed young people’s lives, the prize hopes to bring to life the exceptional work of millions of teachers all over the world.
In a video message, Prince Harry paid tribute to the work of teachers around the world on the day the top ten finalists were announced. Prince Harry said:
“In addition to reading, writing andarithmetic, the very best teachers go beyond the pages of textbooks to teach young people aboutdetermination,aspiration, resilience and compassion. We will all face setbacks and challenges in our lives and our teachers play a vital role in preparing us for these ups and downs.
“The finalists for this year's Global Teacher Prize are from every corner of the world – from the Canadian Arctic to Kenya and Pakistan. But there's one thing they all have in common - they spark curiosity within a child and nurture the dreams that can change our world for the better.
“I would like to end by congratulating all of the finalists; you are not just exceptional teachers, you are the role models who support, inspire and shape children’s lives.Your work issoimportant; I don’t believe it is an exaggeration to say that you are shaping the future”.
The top ten have been narrowed down from20,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries around the world.By highlighting their stories the Varkey Foundation hopes that the public will be able to join in passionate debates about the importance of teachers. The winner will be announced at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai on Sunday 19 March 2017.
David Calle faced a financial struggle to become a teacher and was lucky enough to be able to combine university study with a teaching job in a learning support academy. Concerned about the lack of support for students outside the narrow confines of the classroom, a decade ago he uploaded a maths video to YouTube which quickly caught on. He then began uploading maths, physics, and chemistry videos,as he knew that many families couldn't afford an academy or private tutor to bolster what is available in the traditional classroom.
Now his Unicoos website videos have been viewed by over 30 million students and surveys indicate that the site has helped students with almost every aspect of learning. It is the most important Spanish-language educational channel in its category and has 170,000 followers on Facebook.In September 2015, Unicoos was chosen by Google as the channel with the biggest social impact in Spain.
Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, said:
“I want to congratulate David Callefor being selected as a top ten finalist from such a huge number of talented and dedicated teachers. I hope his story will inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession and also shine a powerful spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all overSpain and throughout the world everyday.
“The thousands of nominations and applications we received from every corner of the planet is testimony to the achievements of teachers and the enormous impact they have on all of our lives.”
The other nine finalists for the Global Teacher prize 2017 are:
Raymond Chambers, a computer science teacher from Brooke Weston Academy in Corby, Northamptonshire
Salima Begum, Headteacher atElementary College for Women Gilgit,PakistanWemerson da Silva Nogueira, a science teacher at the Escola Antônio dos Santos Neves in Boa Esperança, Brazil
Marie-Christine Ghanbari Jahromi a physical education, maths and German teacher at Gesamtschule Gescher school, Gescher, Germany
Tracy-Ann Hall, an automotive technology teacher at Jonathan Grant High School in Spanish Town, Jamaica
Maggie MacDonnell, a teacher at Ikusik School, Kativik School Board, Canadian Arctic
Ken Silburn,a science teacher at Casula High School,south-west Sydney, Australia
Yang Boya, a psychology teacher at The Affiliated Middle School of Kunming Teachers College, China
Michael Wamaya, a dance teacher from Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya
Further information about the top 10 shortlist will be available from 22 February here: To join the conversation online follow #TeachersMatter on:
David Calle’s Twitter handle is
His website is
His YouTube channel is
Ends
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The Varkey Foundationbelieves every child deserves a vibrant, stimulating learning environment that awakens and supports their full potential. We believe nothing ismoreimportant to achieving this than the passion and quality of teachers.Wesupport global teaching capacity and seed excellence and innovation in the next generation of educators. We also founded the Global Teacher Prize to shine a spotlight on the incrediblework teachers do all over the world.
2. A top 50 shortlist of teachers was narrowed down to the final ten teachers by a Prize Committee. The winner will be chosen from these ten finalists by the Global Teacher Prize Academy. The Prize Committee and the Academy will look for evidence that applicants meet the following criteria:
- Achieving demonstrable student learning outcomes in the classroom
- Recognition of a teacher’s achievements in the classroom and beyond from pupils, colleagues, head-teachers or members of the wider community.
- Achievements in the community beyond the classroom that provide unique and distinguished models of excellence for the teaching profession and others
- Employing innovative and effective instructional practices that are replicable and scalable to influence the quality of education globally.
- Helping children become global citizens through providing them with a values-based education, which equips young people with life and work skills and prepares them for a world where they will encounter people from many different religions, cultures and nationalities.
- Encouraging teachers to stay in the profession and develop their skills as well as encouraging others to join the teaching profession.
3. The Global Teacher Prize Academy includes prominent names such as Freida Pinto, Actress, United States; Wendy Kopp, co-founder and CEO of Teach for All; Brett Wigdortz, founder and CEO of Teach First,NickBooth,CEO,The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, James E Ryan, Dean and Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education, United States, Jeffrey D. Sachs,world-renowned professor of economics and special advisor to the U.N and Lewis Pugh, theonly person to have completed a long distance swim in every ocean of the world.
4. The Global Teacher Prize winner will be paid the prize money in equal instalments over ten years, and the Varkey Foundation will provide the winner with financial counselling. Without compromising their work in the classroom, the winner will be asked to serve as a global ambassador for the Varkey Foundation, attending public events and speaking in public forums about improving the prestige of the teaching profession. A condition of winning the prize is that the winner remains as a classroom teacher for at least five years.
5. PriceWaterhouseCoopers will be responsible for ensuring that the balloting process is fair and accurate. Criminal record and other background checks will be conducted on the shortlisted candidates. Top ten finalists from Global Teacher Prize 2016 could not apply for Global Teacher Prize 2017.
6. The Global Teacher Prize is part of the Varkey Foundation’s long-standing commitment to improve the status of teachers. In November 2013, the foundation published theGlobal Teacher Status Index, the first attempt to compare attitudes towards teachers in 21 countries. The index found that there were significant differences between the status of teachers worldwide. The survey also found that in many countries, between a third and half of parents would “probably” or “definitely not” encourage their children to enter the teaching profession. The full Global Teacher Status Index can be found at: