Datuk Seri Najib Razak today expressed the hope that the two Malaysians among the 50 shortlisted teachers from around the world would be successful in the Global Teacher Prize 2016 award.

The Prime Minister said Noorjahan Sultan and K. Vanesri Kasi were the pride of the country.

Noorjahan, of Sekolah Kebangsaan Indera Mahkota Utama in Kuantan, and Vanesri, of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Jalan Khalidi in Muar, Johor, are among the 50 teachers shortlisted from 8,000 entries from 150 countries for the award, organised by Dubai-based Varkey GEMS Foundation.

In his latest post on his Twitter account, Najib said: "Malaysia has many successes that we can be proud of, among them in the field of education. Two of our teachers are among the 50 worldwide shortlisted for the Global Teacher Prize 2016 award.

"Whatever the final outcome of the award, these two teachers are the pride of Malaysia."



In February 2016, 10 finalists will be selected from the 50 candidates and in March, the winner of the award will be announced at an event in Dubai.

This 'Nobel Prize for Teaching' is seeing the second nomination from Malaysia after a physics teacher, Yasmin Noorul Amin, 38, was shortlisted among the 50 teachers for the 2015 award.