A FORMER vice-captain from Bathurst High School has been included on a shortlist of 50 teachers from across the globe for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize.
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Yasodai Selvakumaran completed Year 12 at Bathurst High before embarking on a teaching career and earning a national reputation as an outstanding leader.
Ms Selvakumaran’s parents left Sri Lanka among growing civil tensions and she grew up in Bathurst before moving to Sydney to complete university.
She currently teaches at Rooty Hill High School in Sydney’s western suburbs, tackling the challenges of engaging a culturally and linguistically diverse group of students in a low socio-economic area.
In a career of just eight years, she has directly influenced the careers of over 200 teachers, winning the 2014 Australian Council of Educational Leadership Mary Armstrong Award for Outstanding Young Educational Leader, and the Australian Teaching Fellowship for 2018.
Rooty Hill High School has been named as one of Australia’s 40 most innovative schools in 2016 and 2017, and in 2017, Ms Selvakumaran was recognised as one of 30 rising stars under the age of 35 by The Educator Australia magazine.
Now she is the running for the $1 million Global teacher Prize, up against finalists from 39 countries.
“This is a career milestone beyond anything I’d imagined when starting out in education,” Ms Selvakumaran said.
“This is an opportunity to represent Australia, which isn’t something I’ve ever really thought about as a teacher.
“Until recently, no such prize even existed.
“”I’m so thankful to the communities I’m a part of as teaching is a collaborative profession.
“That’s actually what I love about it – working towards a common vision to seek success for all students is an amazing responsibility and privilege.
“No achievement represents just one teacher, but many people.”
The top 50 shortlisted teachers for the Global Teacher Prize will be narrowed down to 10 finalists by a prize committee in February.
All ten finalists will be invited to Dubai for the award ceremony at the Global Education and Skills Forum on Sunday, March 24 where the winner will be announced live on stage.
The winner of the 2018 prize was Andria Zafirakou, an art and textiles teacher from Alperton Community School in Brent, London.
Ms Zafirakou was awarded the prize at a glittering ceremony hosted by comedian Trevor Noah and including a special musical performance by Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson.