Queen Rania Award honours teachers, principals for distinguished efforts

AMMAN — Deputising for Her Majesty Queen Rania, Education Minister Omar Razzaz on Monday honoured the winners of the 2017 Queen Rania Award for Distinguished Teachers and Distinguished Principals.

Razzaz commended the teachers’ efforts and the “great job” they are doing in educating the new generations in light of the “less than perfect” circumstances faced by the schools in Jordan.

“What I have seen in the last year are limitless efforts from teachers in a difficult environment and dealing with circumstances going from overcrowding to environmental issues… Teachers today are indeed doing a great job,” Razzaz said at the ceremony held at the Royal Cultural Palace.

Out of the 1,770 teachers and 253 school principals who applied for the awards this year, 48 teachers and 22 principals were honoured in the ceremony.

Held under the motto “Building generations through educator excellence”, the award’s 12th edition focused on teachers’ abilities to adapt to the changing world. 

The ceremony started out with a theatrical performance highlighting the evolution of technology throughout time, the gap between the younger and older generations in terms of job opportunities and skills needed, and how education should prepare students for a new world.

Executive Director of The Association of Queen Rania Award for Excellence (QRAEE) in Education Lubna Touqan expressed her pride in today’s educators, who are “preparing our children for a world different from their own”.

“Now more than ever, our children need a teacher who believes that the future to come is better. Today, we look to teachers who realise that the change is a reality that must be accompanied with restless efforts in self improvement,” Touqan said.

Citing a study conducted this year by QRAEE and the Ministry of Education to measure the influence of distinguished educators on students’ performances, Touqan said that a plan will be drawn from the research’s findings, in order to make the best use of the educators’ skills. 

Razzaz stressed that the ministry “believes in the important role of the distinguished educators” and wants to spread this culture of excellence by investing in these teachers and adopting their success stories as a model for all the schools in Jordan.

The first prize for distinguished school principal was awarded to Hanaa Abdallat from the Marka Directorate in the category of schools with 300 students or less, while Abdullah Al Oudat from the Military Cultural Directorate received the second category’s award, for schools with more than 300 students.

Top winners in the distinguished teacher categories included Manar Qatrawi (Zarqa first directorate), Shadyah Rashid (Aqaba directorate) and Mahmoud Hammash (Marka directorate).

Launched in 2005 by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania in partnership with the Education Ministry, the award seeks to set a national standard of excellence in teaching and to celebrate, encourage and honour those who reach it.