Amsterdam teacher hailed as one of world's top 50 educators

Jasper Rijpma, teacher at Amsterdam's Hyperion Lyceum, was named one of the world's top 50 educators. He is on the shortlist of the prestigious Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize. The Amsterdam teacher made the top 50 out of more than 20 thousand nominations, RTL Nieuws reports.

"I do some things ell, but it is quite difficult to say whether I'm the best", Rijpma said to the broadcaster. "I see myself more as an ambassador for teachers. I can represent this beautiful job." According to him, he owes this nomination very much to his colleagues at Hyperion Lyceum. "Being a teacher is always about teamwork. This is just not about me, we are jointly responsible for the students."

Rijpma considers himself very lucky to work at Hyperion Lyceum, a new school that gives him and his colleagues the opportunity to approach things differently. He teaches the subjects history and "great thinkers" - a subject unique to the school. "I tell 11- and 12-year-olds about Plato and why it is relevant to them. That is special, because I never studied philosophy. I learned a lot from my colleagues."