NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A Bahamian teacher has been shortlisted for Cambridge University Press’ the ‘Most Dedicated Teacher Award 2020’.
The shortlist was released on Wednesday, featuring Bernadette Fox from Lyford International School.
‘Teachers say and do life-changing things every day – often without realising it,’ said Michael McGarvey, education director at Cambridge University Press.
‘This could be something as simple as a kind word at a difficult time, or explaining a concept in a way that suddenly makes everything click into place for the student. For that, we’d like to join with people around the world to say thank you together.’
The full shortlist is made up of 50 teachers from across the world, who have been celebrated for the vital role they play in the lives of their students.
“Between 1 October and 29 November 2019, over 6,000 nominations from 97 different countries poured into the Press, each detailing an inspiring story about a current primary or secondary teacher and the hard work they do every day,” read a press release.
“These entries were analysed using competition criteria to select the 50 strong shortlist, including whether teachers prepared students for their futures beyond school and ‘made the ordinary, extraordinary’.”
A panel of expert judges will now choose six top finalists, with the public casting a vote for their favourite story when they are announced on January 20.
The Press will announce the overall winner on February 3, the statement read.
“The finalists will feature on a thank you page at the front of every new Cambridge University Press Education textbook from May 2020 and win a host of prizes, including class sets of books or digital resources,” the statement continued.
“They will also get an invitation to the Cambridge Panel, an online community of teachers and researchers that help to shape the Press’s education publishing.
Pakistani maths and accounting teacher Ahmed Saya won the 2019 Dedicated Teacher Awards last year.
Saya, from Cordoba School for A-Level in Karachi, rose above 4,000 nominations from 75 countries around the world.
