News
Global teacher prize: Off-beat Indian teacher, Robin Chauraisya, contends
Robin Chaurasiya, an Indian teacher, is competing with 9 top teachers from the world over. Read more about her.
Robin Chaurasiya… a name that is being searched for the most on the Internet, that is being read the most in newspapers.
The 30-year-old teacher must be proud to be the only one from India to compete for the Global Teachers Award 2016, for which as many as 8000 nominations from 148 countries from across the globe were filed of which only 10 have been finalised for the finals. Among the finalists are people from one each from India, UK, Nairobi, Palestine, Japan, Finland, Australia, Pakistan and two nominations from the US.
What more?! Her name was announced by none other than Stephen Hawking, as he announced the list of top 10 finalists, saying, “There was a teacher behind every great artist, every great philosopher, every great scientist. However difficult life can be, teachers have always been there, behind the scenes, showing us the way forward.”
Why Chaurasiya?
She, along with one more, started Kranti in 2011 in Mumbai, India, an NGO that aimed to empower young girls from the city’s red light areas and daughters of human traffic victims. What was being taught at this school were not just school-subjects but something beyond subjects, something that these girls, age 12-20, could utilise in real life. The subjects in this school were creative thinking, writing, music, yoga, meditation, computers, theatre, ICT, English, health education, etc. Every week, these girl students are also encouraged to utilise their lessons by volunteering for NGOs of their choices on the weekends. Among the various things that this NGO is doing for its students, it also encourages them to be peer teachers and leaders.
Chaurasiya was earlier in the US Armed Forces as an Air Force officer, however was kicked out as her sexuality wasn’t accepted.
The woman, a ray of hope for the residents of Kamathipura, said, “It is my hope that being on this shortlist will help change people's attitudes and mindsets about sex workers and their children, and what they can and cannot do.”
What is this award?
Global Teachers Award was initiated in the year 2015, to be what Oscars is to Hollywood, by Varkey Foundation, owned by Kerala’s entrepreneur Sunny Varkey.
Varkey, on having an Indian name on the finalist list, said, “I hope her story will inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession and also shine a powerful spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all over India and throughout the world every day.”
Having found so many talent-house across the world, with the hope of finding yet many more in the coming years, the renowned Prof Stephen Hawking said, “There was a teacher behind every great artist, every great philosopher, every great scientist. However difficult life can be, teachers have always been there, behind the scenes, showing us the way forward.”
Further appreciating Varkey’s efforts, he said, “Thanks to Sunny Varkey, and the Varkey Foundation. We need great teachers to grow great minds, or we will never solve the world’s most pressing problems.”
