Kenyan educator who gives most of his salary to students in need wins $1 million global teaching prize

Peter Tabichi.
(Image credit: Suleiman Mbatiah/AFP/Getty Images)

Peter Tabichi already knows what he's going to do with the $1 million he received upon being awarded the 2019 Global Teacher Prize.

The 36-year-old science teacher from rural Kenya will donate some of it to his school, Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village, Nakuru, with the rest going to feed the poor. Tabichi, a Franciscan friar, already gives away 80 percent of his salary to students who otherwise couldn't afford uniforms or books. "Africa's young people will no longer be held back by low expectations," he told BBC News. "Africa will produce scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs whose names will be one day famous in every corner of the world. And girls will be a huge part of this story."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.