KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian teachers were named the Top 50 finalists of the prestigious Global Teacher Prize 2020.
Held annually, the prize is a US$1 million (RM4.4 million) award given to an exceptional teacher who has made a monumental contribution to their profession.
The teachers are Norhailmi Abdul Mutalib, 39, from SMK Jerlun, Ayer Hitam, Kedah and Samuel Isaiah, 33, from SK Runchang, Muadzam Shah, Pahang who is currently pursuing a master’s degree Educational Policy and Leadership at University at Albany, State University of New York in United States as a Fulbright scholar.
Norhailmi is a science and chemistry teacher who advocates the ‘flipped classroom’ and ‘jigsaw classroom’ approaches and empowers students to learn through technology. He runs an interactive science blog that has reached over 33 million views to date.
When contacted Norhailmi said: “Being in the finals is an achievement not only for me, but for all Malaysian teachers and educators. It is a manifestation towards how we are transforming our education system for our children to meet the global needs.”
“In engaging students, I try to focus more on nurturing skills such as critical thinking and problem solving based on local community issues through hands-on activities,” he added.
Having unleashed the potential of his students, the school’s performance in science has also improved. SMK Jerlun was ranked third in the district in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, behind two boarding schools.
“Being in the finals is an achievement not only for me, but for all Malaysian teachers and educators. It is a manifestation towards how we are transforming our education system for our children to meet the global needs.”
The Perlis-born teacher has numerous awards under his belt namely the Science Ambassador for the Community by the then Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (2016) the first Icon Teacher for STEM by the Education Ministry (2017) and Malaysia Best Science Teacher by the South Asean Minister Education Organisation (2018).
If awarded the Global Teacher Prize, he aims to fund new STEM facilities for students, teachers and the community and build an education hub with cutting-edge technology, according to the Global Teacher Prize.
Meanwhile, Isaiah used to travel 200km daily to teach at the Orang Asli school, SK Runchang for eight years.
Known to his students as ‘Teacher Sam’, Isaiah has successfully shifted the previously negative perception on Orang Asli children and their academic abilities.
After seeing the poor school facilities, he started a crowdfunding project to create a 21st-century English classroom with tablets and computers.
Hailing from Kuantan, the teacher also initiated other projects to enhance his students’ English learning, including “Sekolah Pokok", where he goes into the Runchang Orang Asli to conduct English lessons under the trees and an email exchange project where students get to write in English to volunteers in Malaysia and abroad.
His efforts helped to improve the students’ attendance rate and turn the school from being one of the worst-performing in the district with a 30 per cent passing rate in English to around 80 per cent.
Isaiah has many accolades to his name such as the Best Teacher Award at the ASEAN-ELT Conference (2018), Best Innovative Teacher (2018) and the National Hero Teacher Award (2019).
If he wins the Global Teacher Prize, he would use the funds to upgrade the school’s musical instruments and tech devices to create more 21st-century learning classrooms. He also aims to collaborate with more educators to empower other indigenous communities in Malaysia.
Last year, both teachers also made the Top 10 list of the 21st Century Learning Teachers Campaign (PAK21) organised by the Education Performance and Delivery Unit (PADU) of the Education Ministry.
Other Malaysian teachers who made the top 50 in the previous years were Dr Muhamad Khairul Anuar Hussin (2019), K. A. Razhiyah (2018), Mohd Sirhajwan Idek (2017), Vanesri Kasi and Noorjahan Sultan (2016) and Yasmin Noorul Amin (2015)