Ranjitsinh Diasle, a 32-year-old teacher was awarded the Global Teacher Prize 2020. He has won a prize money of Rs 1million. He received this award for his extensive work in the field of the girl education and revolutionising textbooks in India. HeDisale shared his prize money with nine of his fellow finalists. Perhaps it is a first that such a gesture happened.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed education and the communities it serves in a multitude of ways. But in this hard time, teachers are giving their best to make sure every student has access to their birthright of a good education," said Disale, as per PTI.
"Teachers are the real changemakers…I am very pleased to announce that I will share 50 per cent of the prize money equally among my fellow top 10 finalists to support their incredible work. The nine finalists receive will get around Rs 40.57lakh each. I believe, together, we can change this world because sharing is growing," Mr Disale of Solapur's Paritewadi village said, according to PTI.
Engineer to Teacher
Disale initially wanted to become an engineer but his father suggested that he become a teacher. Things did not go right during his engineering course. But his experience in teaching at a college changed him. Disale is a school teacher at Zilla Parishad School in Paritewadi village, Maharashtra. The school building was in a shambles. Disale changed the entire atmosphere and translated the textbooks into local language to help children
Disale is the first to introduce QR codes in his school’s textbooks and he also sent a proposal to the Maharashtra government. And the HRD ministry has announced that all the NCERT books across India would have QR codes.
Innovative works by Disale
Not only teaching and improving school education, Disale also worked to build peace across the world. He connects young people from India and Pakistan, Israel, Iraq and Iran and The US and North Korea through ‘Let’s Cross the Border’s’ project. It was a six-week program and nearly 19,000 students have initiated this program. He is also well known for scientific experiments and he built a science lab at his home.
Other Precious Awards
Innovative Researcher of the Year 2016
National Innovation Foundation’s Innovator of the Year 2018
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’a book he mentioned Dislae as ‘Hit refresh’
Joyful Moment for Disale
Veteran British actor and writer Stephen Fry announced the result from the National History Museum in London on Thursday. He burst out in excitement after hearing the news. "Looks like it's your whole extended family now... oh wonderful my dear fellow," Fry commented watching Disale’s family celebrate.
Flood of wishes Pour in
Disale showed the world how a teacher should be. People from across the world including Dalai Lama, Maharashtra CM and others took to Twitter to congratulate him.
सोलापूरच्या परितेवाडी शाळेतील विद्यार्थीप्रिय शिक्षक श्री रणजीतसिंह डिसले यांना लंडनस्थित वर्की फाऊंडेशनच्या विद्यमाने दिला जाणारा १- दशलक्ष डॉलर पुरस्कार रक्कम असलेला ग्लोबल टीचर पुरस्कार जाहीर झाल्याबद्दल श्री डिसले यांचे मनःपूर्वक अभिनंदन करतो. pic.twitter.com/MwLUicrkii
— Governor of Maharashtra (@maha_governor) December 3, 2020
I’d like to congratulate Ranjitsinh Disale on being named the world's most exceptional teacher and to express my admiration for his generosity in sharing half the prize money with runners up in the competition. He has set an example of compassion in action https://t.co/ZqYrbP35ur
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) December 4, 2020
What an inspiring story from India! Top teacher wins $1m and gives half away. Ranjitsinh Disale seems one of a kind! Congratulations to @VarkeyFdn for giving the annual World Teacher Awards which i helped launch some years ago in an earlier avatar. https://t.co/2wOVcw89FM
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 4, 2020