Ranjitsinh Disale, a government school teacher who made history by winning Global Teacher Prize 2020 where he received 1 million USD. He won hearts not just by winning the title but gave away half of his winnings with his rest of finalists in the Global Teacher Prize.
He decided to share half of Rs 7.4 crores to appreciate the amazing work of the nine other finalists.
Ranjitsinh Disale is a teacher in Paritewadi, Maharashtra. He speaking with PTI said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed education and the come change-makers 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.”
“Teachers are the real change-makers who are changing the lives of their students with a mixture of chalk and challenges. They always believe in giving and sharing,” he said.
He further added, “I believe, together, we can change this world because sharing is growing,” Disale added.
With giving away half of his winning amount, each one will be receiving about Rs 40.57 lakh.
Ranjitsinh Disale: Journey As A Teacher
Ranjitsinh Disale was aiming to be an IT engineer, but when his studies in the field didn’t reach his expectation. That’s when his father advised him to take up teaching as a career.
As per the PTI’s report, his teaching career began at the Zilla Parishad Primary School in Paritewadi village.
He witnessed that the building was not well-maintained but Disale changed the entire picture. He then translated the textbooks into the regional language to ease studying for children.
He also added QR codes to primary school books where children can access the links to audio and video lectures where assignments and stories are also available.
He is the first to introduce QR codes in the textbooks. Ranjitsinh Disale sent out a proposal and in 2017, the Maharashtra government added the QR codes in textbooks of all classes in the state.
PTI report said that he is also spreading awareness about the need for girls education. The village is now witnessing 100% class attendance of girls.
Through ‘Let’s Cross the Borders’ project, he strives to build peace among the youths from India and Pakistan, Palestine and Israel, Iraq and Iran, and the US and North Korea.
Over 19,000 youths from eight countries are paired with a cross-border peace buddy in this six-week programme.
The Global Teacher Prize 2020
A 32-year-old who has won the Innovative Researcher in 2016 and the National Innovation Foundation’s Innovator in 2018 award has recently received the Global Teacher Prize 2020.
The award was announced by Stephen Fry, a veteran British actor and writer on 3 December in a virtual ceremony from the Natural History Museum in London.
His was excited about winning the award, where he received warm hugs from his parents.
He received wishes from people across the globe which includes Dalai Lama, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and many.
He bagged the award where there were 12,000 nominations from across 140 countries and was one among the top 10 finalists.
A nice proverb, “Knowledge increases by sharing but not by saving”. Mr. Ranjitsinh Disale is a living example of sharing knowledge. He as a teacher wants to spread his knowledge with his student across borders also. He gave away half price to other finalists as this would help them to develop a good education system for the students of their respected country.