Indigenous people are looked down upon: 'Unfortunately, my students have the same perception' - Samuel

KUALA LUMPUR:The 2020 Global Teacher Prize Award Finalist, Samuel Isaiah admits that he faces the challenge of eradicating the perception that the indigenous people are always looked down upon.

"Unfortunately, my students also have the same perception," said the teacher of Runchang Primary School, Muadzam Shah, Pahang, when asked about the biggest challenge of teaching indigenous students.

Samuel said after approaching and carrying out the task of educating indigenous students, he realised that the child was also plagued by the same impression.

"I have to face the big challenge of overcoming this psychological problem," he said when interviewed by Astro AWANI here, on Thursday.

Samuel was among 12,000 candidates from 140 countries in the world shortlisted for the award.

The Global Teacher Award, first introduced in 2015, was organized by the Varkey Foundation in collaboration with UNESCO to recognize the important role that teachers play in society.

Samuel said he also introduced various innovations to inspire his indigenous students to keep big dreams and try to connect them to the outside world.

Among the programs he introduced, he said, was an e-mail exchange project known as Asli E-Pal, where students could communicate in English with more mature volunteers at home and abroad.