Brooks Newmark's blog post: "After Scooping a Global Prize, a Friar Seeks to Inspire the Continent's Students"

1. BROOKS NEWMARK
After Scooping a Global
Prize, a Friar Seeks to
Inspire the Continent's
Students
www.BrooksNewmark.com

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Brother Peter Tabichi, a Franciscan friar who teaches
maths and science in rural Kenya, gives away 80 per cent
of his salary to support poorer students in his community.
Last week he won one of the world’s richest prizes: the
prestigious $1 million Global Teacher Prize, awarded by
the Varkey Foundation.

3. The 36-year-old teacher at the Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School
in Pwani village in Nakuru insisted that the prize was “not about the
money”, but rather about giving his students a chance to raise their
horizons. “As a teacher working on the front line, I have seen the
promise of [Africa’s] young people – their curiosity, their talent, their
intelligence, their belief,” he said. “Africa’s young people will no
longer be held back by low expectations. Africa will produce
scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs whose names will one day be
famous in every corner of the world.”

4. Brother Peter is the first African
teacher to win the award,
beating 10,000 teachers from
179 countries to the prize. He
was congratulated by Kenyan
president Uhuru Kenyatta, who
described him as “a shining
example of what the human
spirit can achieve”.

5. Brother Peter has helped to change the
outlook of many of his students, having
launched a popular club which helps
boys and girls design science projects.
He has mentored many of his pupils
through to the Kenya Science and
Engineering Fair, where in 2018 his
students showcased a device to allow
blind and deaf people to measure
objects. His students have been
successful in many international
science competitions, including wining
an award from Britain’s Royal Society
of Chemistry after showing how to
harness local plant life to generate
electricity.

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MANY OF HIS PUPILS ARE POOR, AND ALMOST A THIRD
ARE ORPHANS OR FROM SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES.
Brother Peter says his main challenges include a lack of books, over-
crowded classrooms (with up to 80 students per class) and an unreliable
internet connection for the one solitary computer in the school.

7. Other difficulties include
persuading local families to
value education and to
encourage girls, in particular,
to stay in school. Often he
visits families whose children
are at risk of dropping out to
persuade them to let their
children continue their
education. He provides low-
achieving pupils, in particular,
with one-to-one tuition in
maths and science outside of
class and at weekends.

8. Brother Peter sees this award as a hopeful sign.
“It’s morning in Africa,” he said. “The skies are
clear. The day is young and there is a blank
page waiting to be written. This is Africa’s time.

9. “This prize does not recognise me but
recognises this great continent’s young
people. I am only here because of what
my students have achieved. This prize
gives them a chance. It tells the world
that they can do anything.”

10. Thank you!
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