Iveta Barková with her students. (source: Courtesy of Komenského inštitút)
Iveta Barková has been a teacher throughout her life. She always wanted to be a teacher and always knew what her dream school would look like. Since 2015, after she founded a Private Primary School in Senec with her colleague Jana Augustovičová, this dream has really come true.
Their school is not a typical business project. Although private, it is a teacher education project.
Teacher of Slovakia
The Global Teacher Prize is a worldwide competition in which teachers can win the title of Best Teacher in the World and a financial reward of USD 1 million
The award shall be given to an exceptional teacher who has made a significant contribution to the development of education
It has been awarded by the Varkey Foundation in London
The winners of the Global Teacher Award are announced every year at a ceremony in Dubai
Slovakia has joined the global competition for the third time
the winner of the third year of the Teacher of Slovakia award received €5,000 euros and a ticket to the final of the Global Teacher Prize
the winner of the Public Prize received a financial reward of €2,000
this year the jury also awarded the Distance Teacher Award; it went to Dávid Králik, teacher and co-founder of the Felix school
“Starting our own school was the best step in lives,” said Barková, adding that that they do everything as they we would in a regular school. “But the freedom we have gained allows us to spread our wings even more.”
Her story won her the Teacher of Slovakia 2020 prize, the Public Prize and a ticket to the world final Global Teacher Prize.
A dream about a school comes true
Iveta Barková studied Slovak language and history at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava. She continued her studies at the Central European University in Budapest, where she focused on the modern history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Subsequently, she worked as a secondary school teacher at the Anton Bernolák Grammar School in Senec and at primary schools in Nová Dedinka and Šenkvice.
She is the type of active teacher who constantly monitors what is happening in education in the world, how things can be done differently and better, and passes this information to other colleagues.
“I tried to apply this approach in public schools; unfortunately, not always with success,” said Barková.
