There are plenty of awesome teachers out there.

One just made the country proud by winning an international award.

The best of the best

A Malaysian teacher was recently announced as the winner of the Global Teacher Award 2021, an award that recognises excellent teachers from around the world every year.

V. Komathy, who teaches chemistry at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh, won the award for her passion in creating interesting products to help students become more interested in chemistry, Mashable SEA reported.

Among her creations include a card game activity called the 'Chem-Ester Kit' that teaches players about molecular formulas, alkane compounds, alkenes, alcohol structures, carboxylic acid, and ester.

When contacted by reporters, the 38-year-old shared that she was surprised when the organisers of the awards, AKS Education, called her to inform that she won the award.

"I still can't believe I'm being selected as the winner out of 321 candidates from Malaysia, and about 26,000 from other countries.

"Of that number, 500 had been shortlisted – including six Malaysian candidates,” she was quoted as saying.

Image credit: Harian Metro

Komathy received the award virtually during the live ceremony held on the AKS Education Facebook and YouTube pages on 24 October.

She said that her motivation to come out with innovative ways to teach actually came from her students.

"When people say I am one of the inspirations to other teachers, I feel my inspiration comes from the students because it is towards their needs that I strive for excellence," she said.

Well done, Cikgu! We definitely need more teachers like you.

MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: New Straits Times & Suara Perak