The Global Teacher Prize was created in 2015 by the Varkey Foundation (headquartered in the United Kingdom) with the aim of recognising the value of the teaching profession, in light of the major role it plays in education, in particular, and society in general. The prize is awarded in 17 countries, including Portugal, where it was introduced last year through the Mentes Empreendedoras (Entrepreneurial Minds) programme and its founder, the economist Afonso Mendonça Reis, and the Galp Foundation has been supporting the project as a main partner from the very beginning. According to the managing director, Joana Garoupa, the Galp Foundation believes that the seeds of the future are intrinsically associated with knowledge, and investing in the future is a means of “guaranteeing that new generations have the knowledge and teachers who are motivated and the will to do bigger and better things on a daily basis”, declared the executive at the launch of the 2nd edition of Global Teacher Prize Portugal, which will once again be handing over 30,000 euros to the teacher who stands out in producing a creative and effective approach to specific challenges in a school context. Candidates should register by 03 March on the prize website, which also provides the regulations and other information.
José Teixeira, the winner of last year´s Global Teacher Prize Portugal, with Joana Garoupa, managing director of the Galp Foundation
José Jorge Teixeira, a physics and chemistry teacher at Dr. Júlio Martins Secondary School, in Chaves, won the prize last year, and is back in the running, one of 50 finalists, for the 2019 global edition of the “Nobel Prize for Teachers”.
