Terms and Conditions

Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize

By participating in this contest (“Contest“), each person who applies or is nominated (“Applicant”) accepts and agrees to be bound by the following terms and conditions (these “Terms and Conditions”):

Introduction

The Varkey Foundation (“VF”) is launching a US$1,000,000 Global Teacher Prize (“Prize”) to recognise the importance of the teaching profession and promote excellence in teaching. Dates for the next cycle will be confirmed in due course. The winner will be announced at a prize ceremony. The selection process will be audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Eligibility

To be eligible, an Applicant must:

● be at least eighteen (18) years old at time of entry;

● must be a currently working teacher who teaches children that are in compulsory schooling, or are between the ages of 5 and 18. Teachers who teach children age 4+ in an Early Years government-recognised curriculum are also eligible, as are teachers who teach on a part-time basis, and teachers of online courses. 

● spend at least 10 hours per week teaching children face-to-face, and plan to remain in the teaching profession for the next 5 years. 

● not be prohibited from participating in the Contest or receiving the Prize under the applicable law of their country;

● not, nor any connected person of an Applicant, have a criminal record;

● not, nor any connected person of an Applicant, have conducted themselves (by act or omission) in such a way as to bring the teaching profession or VF, its affiliates, any GEMS Education group company, or their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, and subsidiaries (“VF Parties”) into disrepute or to have been adversely prejudicial to the interests of any of them (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF);

● not be a previous Prize winner; and 

● not be a previous Top 10 candidate.

(A connected person of an Applicant is: the Applicant’s spouse, civil partner, any person with whom the Applicant lives as a partner in an enduring family relationship, siblings, a child or stepchild of the Applicant or Applicant’s sibling, a child or stepchild of an Applicant’s partner (if living with the Applicant and under the age of 18), or the Applicant’s parents; and any legal person, trust or partnership, the managerial responsibilities of which are discharged by the Applicant or any of the aforementioned persons, or which is directly or indirectly controlled by such a person, or which is set up for the benefit of such a person, or the economic interests of which are substantially equivalent to those of such a person).

How to enter

To enter, complete the application form and questions and follow the instructions on our Prize Platform

Selection Criteria:

The judges will evaluate Applications based on the following criteria:

● Employing effective instructional practices that are replicable and scalable to influence the quality of education globally.

● Employing innovative instructional practices that address the particular challenges of the school, community or country and which have shown sufficient evidence to suggest they could be effective in addressing such challenges in a new way.

● Achieving demonstrable student learning outcomes in the classroom.

● Impact in the community beyond the classroom that provide unique and distinguished models of excellence for the teaching profession and others.

● Helping children become global citizens through providing them with a values-based education that equips them for a world where they will potentially live, work and socialise with people from many different nationalities, cultures and religions.

● Improving the teaching profession through helping to raise the bar of teaching, sharing best practice, and helping colleagues overcome any challenges they face in their school.

● Teacher recognition from governments, national teaching organisations, head-teachers, colleagues, members of the wider community or pupils.

Selection Process

● Once the Application process has closed, Applications will be scored and read by a panel of online judges who will select the Top 50 finalists.

● The first committee of judges (“Prize Committee”) will meet to select ten finalists. The Global Teacher Prize Academy will then select the winner, through a secure online voting system, subject to additional screening, background and reference checks.

● The whole process will be monitored by PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure transparency.

Post-selection

● The Prize will be paid to the winner (or, in the event of death, his personal representatives or beneficiary(ies), as applicable) by VF in equal annual instalments of US$100,000 over a period of ten (10) years, subject to any tax or other withholding required under applicable law, and otherwise in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

● During this ten (10) year period, the winner shall (and shall use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that their connected persons shall) not conduct themselves (by act or omission) nor associate themselves with any person or organisation who conducts themselves (by act or omission), in such a way as to bring the teaching profession or any of the VF Parties into disrepute (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF).

● The winner shall attend financial counselling sessions provided free-of-charge by VF.

● The winner shall (and shall use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that their connected persons shall) not use any Prize money for:

(i) any purpose that may bring the teaching profession or any of the VF Parties into disrepute or may be adversely prejudicial to the interests of any of the VF Parties (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF), or
(ii) any illegal activity (including without limitation bribery or corruption), or
(iii) any political or quasi-political activity including, without limitation, being a member of or making a donation directly or indirectly to any political party or trade union organisation.

● No later than 1 week before the due date for payment of each instalment the winner must provide an annual written report which details how the Prize has been spent for any amounts above US$5,000 (including full details of any beneficiaries), in the period since payment of the last instalment of the Prize, together with confirmation in writing that these Terms and Conditions have been complied with by the winner.

● The winner must provide satisfactory evidence to VF that they have (or have opened) a bank account in their own name. The VF will only remit funds to a bank account in the winner’s sole name. Each instalment will be paid on the anniversary of the first year’s payment into the bank account notified by the winner.

● For a period of five (5) years after the date of the award of the Prize to the winner, the winner must:

(i) continue to teach or provide educational support to students between the ages of 4 and 18 in a school setting (unless due to natural retirement); and
(ii) serve as Global Ambassador for VF. Serving as Global Ambassador for VF shall include but not be limited to attending events, speaking to the media, undertaking training and other commitments outside of working hours on weekends and/or on holidays. VF will pay for and arrange all travel and accommodation.

● The winner will provide VF with not less than 14 days prior written notice of any proposed public speaking engagement, the issue of a press or public statement or the giving of an interview or other publicity event in whatever media (in person, or online or via digital or social media) (“Publicity”) that is to occur. The winner shall brief and consult with VF (and, where required by VF, its public relations adviser) on the proposed form, nature and content of the Publicity and shall make the changes to the Publicity required by VF to ensure that the Publicity is not likely to bring any VF Party into disrepute or be adversely prejudicial to the interests of any VF Party (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF).

Conditions and Limitations

● Limit one application per Applicant.

● Applicants who do not progress to the Top 50 stage or beyond will not receive notification.

● Entries will not be returned.

● Applicants will not be reimbursed for any costs incurred in connection with submitting the Application.

● VF is not responsible for lost, late, or misdirected entries.

● Upon submission, each Applicant grants VF a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free and worldwide licence to use and modify the Application, in whole or in part, for commercial and other purposes, without any payment or other consideration, for use in any media now known or hereafter discovered, in perpetuity, to the extent legally permissible.

● By entering this Contest, each Applicant forever discharges and releases the VF Parties from any and all liability, claims, causes of action, suits, and demands of any kind (“Claims”) arising from or in connection with the Contest. ● The Applicant also indemnifies the VF Parties from all Claims arising from third parties in relation to the applicant’s participation in this Contest or the breach of any of these Terms and Conditions by the Applicant.

● Each Applicant warrants and represents that they:

(i) own and have unrestricted rights to all intellectual property rights in all of the content of their Application materials and that they represent their own (and no one else’s) original work; and
(ii) have the authority to submit these materials and to grant the licence described herein.

● By entering this Contest, each Applicant shall fully indemnify the VF Parties for all third party Claims arising directly or indirectly from breach of this warranty and/or representation.

● Each Applicant agrees to any VF Party using their name and likeness in publicity without notice or any additional compensation, except where prohibited by applicable law. The winner acknowledges that VF has the right to publicise and broadcast the winner’s name, voice, and likeness, the fact that they won, and all matters incidental thereto. VF is not obligated to attribute an Application to the Applicant who submitted it.

● At any time at VF’s discretion, an Applicant may be required to provide proof of compliance with any of these Terms and Conditions. An Applicant shall provide proof of compliance within 5 days of the request being made.

● Any personal information not included in the Application materials collected in connection with this Contest is solely for the purpose of Contest administration and will be collected, used, and maintained according to VF’s Privacy Policy which can be found at: https://www.varkeyfoundation.org/privacy.

● Winners will be solely responsible for any and all taxes incurred by their participation in the contest. VF will report or withhold any individual winnings in accordance with applicable law.

● VF reserves the right to terminate the Contest without awarding the Prize if no eligible winner claims the Prize within the required time.

● Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms and Conditions, VF may:

(i) stop paying any and all future instalment(s) of the Prize and/or
(ii) require the winner on written demand to pay back within a specified period an amount (in a lump sum or by instalments) equal to any Prize money already paid to the winner, if at any time after the award of the Prize to the winner, the winner

(a) was not in fact eligible in accordance with all of the requirements of section 2 of these Terms and Conditions at the time the Application was made; or
(b) submitted any Application material that was false or misleading in any way; or
(c) commits a breach of any Term and Condition and that breach is irremediable or (if that breach is remediable) fails to remedy that breach within a period of 20 days after being notified in writing to do so; or
(d) repeatedly breaches any of these Terms and Conditions in such a manner that its conduct is inconsistent with it having the intention or ability to give effect to these Terms and Conditions (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF); or
(e) fails or ceases to meet the requirements of any regulatory body whose consent is required to enable the winner to undertake all or any of their duties as a teacher and/or are guilty of a serious breach of the rules and regulations of such regulatory body; or
(f) is guilty of any gross misconduct in the course of their employment; or
(g) is, or any connected person of his is, convicted of any criminal offence (other than an offence under any road traffic legislation in the United Kingdom or elsewhere for which a fine or non-custodial penalty is imposed); or
(h) is declared bankrupt or makes any arrangement with or for the benefit of creditors or has a county court administration order (or equivalent outside of the United Kingdom) made against him or her; or
(i) commits any fraud or dishonesty or acts in any manner which in the opinion of VF brings or is likely to bring a VF Party into disrepute or is adverse to the interests of a VF Party; or
(j) commits any offence under any applicable anti-bribery or corruption laws, including without limitation, the UK Bribery Act 2010 or the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; or
(k) commits a tax evasion facilitation offence under applicable law or regulation of the United Kingdom or elsewhere; or
(l) ceases to have mental capacity within the meaning of the UK Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005); or
(m) conducts himself or herself (or any connected person of his or her conducts himself or herself) by act or omission in such a way as to bring the teaching profession or any of the VF Parties into disrepute or to be adversely prejudicial to the interests of any of them (as may be determined at the sole discretion of VF).

● These Terms and Conditions are subject to written modification by VF in its sole discretion and any modification shall be binding upon all Applicants being notified of the same.

● This Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by applicable law. Each of these Terms and Conditions is subject to applicable law.

● These Terms and Conditions constitute all of the terms and conditions that relate to the Contest and Prize and supersede and extinguish all previous discussions, correspondence, negotiations, drafts, agreements, promises, assurances, warranties, representations, arrangements and understandings between them, whether written or oral, relating to the Contest and/or the Prize.

● An applicant’s rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions may not be assigned, transferred, mortgaged, charged, declared a trust over or dealt in any other manner.

● If any Term or Condition or part-Term or Condition is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed deleted, but that shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of these Terms and Conditions.

● These Terms and Conditions do not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any Term or Condition.

● This Contest and these Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales, without regard to any conflicts of law principles. Any and all claims or disputes arising out of or in connection with this Contest or these Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of English courts.