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Out of 11,000 nominations from 90 countries, our judges named the following deserving teachers as regional winners of the 2023 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards.
"Akeem Badru is a residence teacher in an underserved community of Ogunpa. He left his family and the comfort of city life to reside in a village which lacks the basic social amenities. His selfless service, sacrifice and steadfastness eradicated the age long practice of parents withdrawing their children from school after primary 3 (age 10) to work as domestic servants in the city which made the school produced primary six graduates after over ten years break. Through "First Step Initiatives" a Stem and project-based project, he uses craft and model making to promote inquisitiveness, creativity potentials and critical thinking skills of children. As a teach SDG Ambassador, he financed the construction of a borehole for the village as his contribution towards the achievement of 2030 SDGs and to solve the problem water related diseases that keep his pupils out of school as well to promote healthy living of his pupils."
Selçuk Yusuf Arslan – Atatürk MTAL, Turkey
Regional winner for Europe
"I have a teacher who prioritizes social benefit. Turkey hosts 4 million immigrants. We have more than 50 immigrant friends at our school. Most of them had to migrate to Turkey because of war. But immigrant students do not communicate much with other students. Selçuk Yusuf Arslan, my teacher, started the STEM Stands Together project. He voluntarily ran STEM workshops every week at the school. 20 people attended each workshop. Each group consisted of 1 Turk and 1 immigrant. The workshops started with ice breaking activities and we learned each other's names. Then he taught us coding. Then we did a STEM application together. Our academic skills improved and we made new friendships. We broke the communication barrier. In fact, I learned that I should not be prejudiced against immigrants. My friend Hüseyin, whom I met at the workshop last year, is now one of my closest friends."
Goh Kok Ming – SJKC Hua Lian 1, Malaysia
Regional winner for South-East Asia
"Mr. Goh Kok Ming: the innovative educator bridging the digital divide in rural communities! Using App Inventor and Minecraft, he inspires under-enrolled school students to code for a better future. From 'Hello World!' to winning global awards - celebrate the success of Kampong Code and Mr. Goh's perseverance in empowering every student to transform the world! Since 2017, he has started an initiative, “Kampong Code”, to encourage students to build apps to solve community issues. He always motivates them to stay focused and strengthens the belief: “Persist, and watch yourself transform - change is inevitable”. Despite of difficulties, he and his students took the initiative to build a unique educational app and participated in the Microsoft Tech For Good Challenge in 2022. From Difficult Learning to Global Recognition: Their apps were awarded with the 2nd Runner-Up for the K-12 category (SDG #4: Quality Education) globally!"
Nathalie Roy – Glasgow Middle School, Baton Rouge, United States
Regional winner for North and South America
"As a Latin teacher Ms. Roy has a limited amount of students but she makes an impression on everyone she teaches. I changed my school just to be taught by her. She encourages students to learn and makes sure we know that her classroom is always open to those who need a shoulder to cry on. She organizes several STEM projects for her Latin and Roman Tech students, including but not limited to the Roman Road Project where students built a sidewalk that improved the school, the Roman way. Ms. Roy runs a fabulous LBGTQ+ club which acts as a safe place for students as well as a Girl Scout troop that does several service projects. She encourages us to never give up and offers several materials to help us improve in her classes. I learned from her to change the world you must start with the students."
Gaurav Sharma – FirstSteps School, India
Regional winner for South and East Asia
"The term "dedicated teacher" is like a synonym of Mr. Gaurav Sharma, as his devotion and planning make mathematics classrooms engaging and realistic, connected through activities conducted on patterns & prediction of pandemic rise in 6 months and using online tools (Desmos, Triumph Cloud) for graphs and geometrical constructions. Beyond classroom, he mentored IGCSE students for the Ghaghar Toli Project on River Cleaning in Chandigarh. During the COVID pandemic, floating a Google Form link on different social sites to book time slots for clearing the mathematical doubts of needy students across the country free of charge was a selfless endeavour beyond classroom. Beyond the national and international curriculum, Mr. Gaurav created the monthly booklet series "Mathelete" and "Mathemania," as well as the Question Bank for PISA practice in Chandigarh schools. He is a passionate teacher who instils joy and discovery in everyday teaching while spreading knowledge without boundaries."
Uzma Siraj – Future World School, Pakistan
Regional winner for Middle East and North Africa
"Uzma Siraj, who started her journey as a Montessori teacher and made her way up to A levels is an ideal example of a passionate teacher. During her Montessori teaching days, she not only helped a physically-disabled child in her day-to-day tasks but also in winning her musical chair contest. Despite her own financial instability, she took it upon herself to sponsor the education of a janitorial staff’s child who dreamt to be a doctor. In order to expand her area of education, she herself appeared for the CAIE Urdu examinations and was awarded distinction. Her ailing husband and children were supported by this iron woman who worked twice her capabilities to make the ends meet by providing pick and drop service to students. Not only her own students, she pledged to help anyone in need and her efforts in organizing a flood relief charity drive are a proof."
WinnerAkeem Badru – St Michael RCM Primary School, Nigeria
Regional winner for Central and Southern Africa
