KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Teacher Prize which aims to celebrate educators with a grand prize up to RM50,000, has opened its online application process starting today until June 30.
Pemimpin GSL (Global School Leaders) chief executive officer Cheryl Ann Fernando said the Malaysia Teacher Prize is the national edition of the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize, to empower and celebrate the outstanding achievements of educators in the country.
Fernando said the prize is open to teachers fulfilling the four main criteria namely; having five years of teaching experience, teaching at least 10 hours a week, educating students between the age of five to 18 years old using the national syllabus and planning to stay in the teaching profession for the next five years.
"This is the first award programme is being held, launched by Pemimpin GSL in partnership with YTL Foundation with the support of the Education Ministry.
"We are expecting around 1,000 applicants as this is the first time the prize has been launched.
"Apart from the grand prize, the teachers will also be offered training on professional development and we will guide them how they can best scale their intervention in the classroom to others in Malaysia," she said during a press conference after the launch of the award programme at Majestic Hotel here, today.
Fernando said online roadshows and collaborations with the district education office and the state education department as well as the Education Ministry are being held to reach out to many more schools in the country.
"We want to encourage every teacher in the country to apply for the award and their work in the classrooms be highlighted," she said.
YTL Foundation programme director Datuk Kathleen Chew who launched the award programme said, the Malaysia Teacher Prize represent another milestone in the foundation's ongoing commitment towards education to empower individuals and communities to be the catalysts of change.
Chew said the application process is not limited to just teachers from private or public schools but also encourages students to nominate their teachers for the award.
"There are also many teachers who are working in non-government schools. We hope that they would also participate because many teachers dedicate their lives to teach.
"I hope they can come forward also, not just government school teachers and public school educators," she said.
Applicantions and nominations for the Malaysia Teacher Prize can be done by logging in at www.malaysiateacherprize.org from May 10 to June 30.
Each candidate is only allowed to submit one application and required to complete five essays of 300-500 words each and upload supporting materials in the form of documents, graphics, or videos.
Individuals are allowed to submit as many nominations as long as they include basic information on their nominees. Emails inviting the educators to apply for the award will be sent accordingly.
The grand prize winner will be receiving RM50,000 and four finalists will receive RM5,000 each.
The top 10 finalists will also receive professional development training to assist them to better understand their impact and potentially scale their work beyond schools.