Evans Odei: The Achimota School teacher shortlisted for the Global Teacher Prize 2021`

A teacher from Accra’s Achimota School is vying for a US$1 million prize at the Global Teacher Prize 2021 after making the top ten list of finalists.

Evans Odei is thus the first Ghanaian to have made it to the 10 finalists, following in the footsteps of the late Professor Sitsophe Anku, who made it to the Prize’s 50th finalist in 2018, according to the Ghanaian Times newspaper.

The teacher was chosen from over 8,000 nominations and applications received from 121 countries worldwide.

The Varkey Foundation organizes the Global Teacher Prize each year to recognize hardworking teachers who go above and beyond to make teaching and learning more interesting and to help students understand what they are taught in school.

Evans Odei, who has over 20 years of teaching experience, explained his motivation for making mathematics teaching a core business of his.

“So, I decided to set up a free ‘Mathematics Clinic’ to engage students who had a phobia of learning the subject and also to make learning easier for them. My target was the average and below-average students who needed extra help to make a difference,” he said.

As a result of this, he told the paper, his students’ attitudes toward the subject began to shift.

This, he added, resulted in a decrease in truancy as well as an improvement in the results the students began to produce.

He also expressed hope that he would be able to bring the prize back to Ghana and do more for his students.

The winner of the Global Teacher Prize 2021 will be announced on November 10 at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris in a virtual ceremony.

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