Guy Etienne who teaches at the College Catts Pressoir of Port-au-Prince since 1982, is one of 10 finalists for the award for the best teacher in the world. This award, of an amount of $1 million, awarded by the "Varkey Gems Foundation" (VGF), an international educational foundation based in Dubai, is considered as the equivalent of a "Nobel Prize of education". Launched in March 2014, this competition is open to teachers in every school, in every country of the world. 1,300 candidacies from 127 countries around the world, were initially retained on 5,000. After making a second selection, 50 candidates from 26 countries, have joined the semifinals, including Haiti. Today, among the 10 finalists, the Haitian professor, Guy Etienne remains the only French in the competition.

According Sunny Varkey, founder of the VGF, this award aims to contribute to better highlight the role of teachers in society. Candidates will be judged by an international jury of 67 members, on how they open the minds of their students, how they contribute to the community and how they encourage others to become teachers. To pretend to this title, it is necessary to have achieved outstanding results in student learning and earned the respect of the community through activities beyond the classroom.

Criteria to decide who will be the winner :

• Recognition of achievements of teacher in the classroom and beyond from students, colleagues, managers and principals or members of the wider community ;

• Prepare children to become citizens of the world where they are likely to encounter on the planet people from different religions, cultures and nationalities ;

• Use innovative and effective teaching practices, producing tangible results on student learning in the classroom ;

• Develop and share a leadership innovative and informed having improved access to education and quality education for children from all backgrounds ;

• Having participated in public debates on the teaching profession and its value, whether by writing articles, holding blogs, participation within the media, organizing campaigns, events or conferences on social media ;

• Having achieve accomplishments outside the classroom offering significant and unique models of excellence in their kind of the teaching profession ;

• Encourage others to practice the teaching profession.

The winner will be announced in Dubai Monday, March 16, 2015, at the Global Education & Skills Forum.

HL/ HaitiLibre