Teacher Ms. Najwa Abu Selmiya, a graduate from Faculties of Science and Education at Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), won the title of “Creative Teacher” in the 15th session of Khalifa Education Award at the Arab world level, announced in the UAE.
Teacher Abu Selmiya said that she was able to excel in the award by submitting a large educational file that brought her to win the award and the title. Teacher Abu Selmiya noted that her winning resulted from achieving several accomplishments in the preparation and production of teaching materials for school students on the subject of scientific culture.
She clarified that she produced (93) educational videos, equipped a comprehensive training material for review, prepared more than (20) electronic tests through Google Form, and (79) educational files, as well as creating a comprehensive Google site for scientific culture, administrating a blogger for STEAM education, and preparing a curriculum software.
Teacher Abu Selmiyeh pointed out that she had implemented several initiatives, including: “The educational atlas of parasitology”, “Bringing light” for students with low achievement, “Greater attainment and less effort”, “Corona Challenge” for distance learning, “Green School”, “An hour to volunteer for Palestine”, some health initiatives, and “Using active and electronic learning for public high school students”.
Teacher Najwa Abu Selamiya has won several local awards, most notably: Mobadaraty Award for Initiative Teachers in the Gaza Strip, Digital Content Jockeys, and Microsoft Expert Educator. Additionally, her work ranked among top ten projects in Luma Start International Competition in Finland, not to mention her winning of Khalifa Education Award for Creative Teacher, which she shared with another teacher Rana Ziyada.
In the same context, Teacher Rana Ziyada, Master’s degree in Math Curriculum and Teaching Methods from the Faculty of Education at IUG, won the same title “Creative Teacher” of Khalifa Educational Award.
Teacher Ziyada said: “The award has high standards requiring creative work and achievements within the last two years only, work should be supported with certificates and evidence”. She indicated that she had submitted creative work in nine areas, including: educational leadership, sustainable development, and research.
She further clarified that the award arbitration was in accordance with the nine criteria required from the award granters, which made the competition difficult and merit-based.
Ms. Ziyada has received awards over the past years, including: Best Palestinian Teacher at the Arab World in 2017, Creative Women Award in Education from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in 2019, as well as being included in top 50 worldwide teachers in 2019, and winning Altaawon Foundation Award for Distinguished Teacher in 2020.
