Isa Abbas

Isa began his teaching journey in childhood by giving voluntary instruction in social and religious centers. Quickly, he realised his love and passion for teaching others. Today, Isa teaches in a village school, where many students live in situations of family disintegration and poverty. These contribute to students’ weak self-confidence and low level of attendance in class. This has meant that Isa has faced many challenges and difficulties as a teacher.  

What distinguishes Isa as a teacher is his love for teaching students who need help – whether they are sick, socioeconomically disadvantaged, or have special educational needs. During the summer school holidays, Isa offers programmes to autistic children in which he teaches them skills such as drawing and takes them on educational and recreational trips. At school, Isa has been teaching three blind students from one family, who were able to raise their academic level with his help. Outside school, Isa also tutored a child who was suffering from cancer and therefore could not attend school during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic: today he is recognised as one of the outstanding students in the school. A student with selective mutism was also helped to speak and integrate with others, and has achieved impressive results in academic work and personal development. 

Isa has also contributed to the teaching profession and the development of his colleagues. He prepared a teachers’ guide for teaching twenty-first century skills, created a programme to improve how teachers listen, and built a platform to develop the life skills of school students. These resources have contributed to students’ personal growth, development, self-confidence, and practical skills. As part of the Aflatoun Program for Financial and Social Education, Isa also offers free lectures and workshops to students during the summer and spring holidays, with the aim of developing their life skills. At his school, Isa has achieved improved grades and growth averages among students, as well as increasing their motivation to learn and their attendance. The rate of aggression and bullying has also declined. 

Isa’s contributions have been recognised in a number of ways. He is the winner of a number of national awards, such as the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Teacher in 2020, and a distinguished participation mention in the Mohammed bin Zayed Award for Best Teacher. He also holds a master's degree in Family Counseling with honors and a first-class distinction. If Isa wins the Global Teacher Prize, he will use the prize funds to establish a scientific and entertainment club for blind children, providing scientific courses and life skills such as programming, languages, music and drawing, in a way that contributes to improving quality of life and happiness. He would also cooperate with scientific centres in neighbouring countries to expand activities and events for the benefit of all blind students. On a personal level, he will allocate a portion of the funds towards his own doctoral study to benefit his community, students, and country.