Soraya Motaharnia, a female teacher from Iran’s Kordestan Province, was among the 10 finalists of Global Teacher Prize awarded by Varkey Foundation.
The Global Teacher Prize is worth one million dollars and is presented to the best teacher in the world selected from among the 10 finalists.
The finalists in turn are chosen from among 50 top teachers nominated from all corners of the world both in rural areas and inner-city schools.
Previously, an Iranian teacher named Ferdows Hajian who was widely known as Uncle Ferdows among Iranian children for his performance in a children’s program in Iran’s state TV, was nominated for the prize.
Ms. Motaharnia said in an interview with IRNA on Wednesday that she had served as a teacher for 26 years in remote villages in hot and cold days only to see students smiling.
While spending the final days of her career as a teacher, she said that she spent each year teaching in a different village to make sure that no student was deprived of literacy because of remoteness or poverty.
Ms. Motaharnia has spotted thousands of students in remote areas who couldn’t treat their illness because of poverty and introduced them to charity organizations and philanthropists to provide funds for their treatment.
Living in Bijar County, she said that the problem in the county was that philanthropists and charities there use their sources to fund charities in capital Tehran, whereas their own people in Bijar County and Kordestan Province are in need the most.
She also said that she has helped families of poor students, mothers in particular, to gain a livelihood through facilitating training and launching jobs like weaving rugs, optimizing production of dairy products and energy consumption, cultivating saffron bulb, etc.
Motaharnia has a degree in political science and international relations.