Dubai teacher wins $60,000 inspirational award

An Iranian schoolteacher in Dubai has won the inaugural Mariamma Varkey Award for Inspirational and Outstanding Teaching at GEMS, instituted in honour of the founder of GEMS Education’s first school.

Debbiejo Miranda from The Winchester School in Jebel Ali received a cash prize of $60,000 (Dh220,200) as part of the award, being held annually for teachers at GEMS schools.

GEMS Education is the UAE’s biggest private school group, with close to 50 schools under its brand.

Mariamma Varkey is a former teacher from India who moved to Dubai with her husband K.S. Varkey in 1959. They founded the first Our Own English High School in 1968.

On Wednesday night, coinciding with World Teachers Day, Miranda was named the winner among 40 nominees during an awards ceremony at GEMS Modern Academy in Nad Al Sheba.

She was nominated by peers and chosen by a judging panel comprising GEMS Education leadership, and representatives from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and Ministry of Education, GEMS said in a press release on Wednesday.

Miranda, who is the head of the English department at Winchester, said as a teacher, it was crucial to “love your children unconditionally; then everything falls into place. They will love you back and you can achieve anything with them”.

Miranda, who is of Indian-Kenyan



origin, has been teaching for 20 years, nine of them at Winchester. She said her favourite teacher was her mother.

GEMS Education founder and chairman Sunny Varkey also praised his mother, Mariamma Varkey, during the ceremony. He said the award also represents “our humble tribute to Mariamma Varkey, who set the fundamentals for the GEMS Education network. Much before the formation of the UAE, she committed herself to shaping the next generation through the noble profession of teaching. Her drive, enthusiasm and energy are an inspiration for every teacher”.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony, chief guest Dr Abdullah Al Karam, director-general of KHDA, said the award had “managed to combine two great people — the teacher at school and the mother at home”.

The latest award is the third recognition to honour teachers, instituted by philanthropist Sunny Varkey. The other two are the Dh1 million Emirates Innovative Teacher Award, organised in partnership between the Ministry of Education and GEMS Education; and the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, instituted and managed by the Varkey Foundation and supported by GEMS Education.

It was also announced that GEMS Education has introduced the GEMS Teacher of the Month Award to recognise teachers from each school within the group. These awards will take place in each school, highlighting one exceptional teacher every month.

The monthly-nominated teachers across the schools will be shortlisted for the Mariamma Varkey Award held annually.