Dubai: A teacher in the UAE was named regional winner of a global competition of the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) out of thousands of nominees from dozens of countries.
The International Education group at Cambridge University Press & Assessment (Cambridge) named Gina Justus, Head of English, Phase Three, Our Own English High School, Sharjah – Girls’ Branch, as the regional winner of the 2024 awards.
Global competition
The Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards celebrates the achievements of teachers around the world. Now in its sixth year, the competition highlights the important role that teachers play in shaping the lives of their learners and preparing them for the world.
It gives students, parents and peers the chance to nominate a current primary or secondary teacher for outstanding commitment to their students’ education.
As a regional winner, Gina will win £500 worth of books for their class, a trophy, take part in a regional awards ceremony and receive publicity for them and their school during the coming year.
They will also appear on a ‘thank you’ page at the front of new Cambridge textbooks.
Mentorship
Gina has been named the regional winner in MENA for her outstanding mentorship and commitment to charity.
The judges applauded Gina’s commitment to her department, for whom she regularly organises and conducts workshops to raise teaching standards.
She is also heavily involved in charity work with the NGO, Reach Worldwide, where she has sponsored five children who were deprived of education.
Teacher Annamma Luc, also from Our Own English High School, Sharjah – Boys’ Branch, won the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards 2021.
Honour
Gina Justus said” “I’ve always had a passion for teaching and to be recognised with this award is a great honour. In my 17-year career at Our Own English High School, I’ve really enjoyed exploring innovative strategies of teaching and learning.
"It’s incredibly important that all children have the opportunity to learn. I am very proud of the work that Reach Worldwide is doing to ensure those children deprived of education get the necessary access to nurture their curiosity.”
Global competition
2024 saw a record number of nominations from people wanting to thank a teacher. Cambridge received 14,840 nominations across 141 different countries, topping the previous record by over 1,000 nominations.
Rod Smith, Managing Director of International Education said: “We need 44 million teachers worldwide by 2030 if the world is to meet the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 of inclusive and equitable quality education.
“For this to happen, at Cambridge we believe we should be celebrating the profession and highlighting the hard-working teachers currently instilling a love of learning, often in difficult environments.
Inspiration
“We launched the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards to ensure we took the time to thank those preparing their students to be ready for the world, whether tackling challenging educational issues like climate change or breaking down cultural barriers.
“I wish to congratulate Gina for her immense accomplishments, which I’m sure will inspire teachers and learners across MENA.”
The public can now vote on their favourite teacher out of the nine regional winners, to become the overall winner of Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards 2024.
Voting
The deadline to vote is May 6, 2024 and the Global Winner will be announced on 29 May 2024.
To find out more about Cambridge and vote for your favourite teacher in the competition, please visit dedicatedteacher.cambridge.org/vote
