Barbara Nowacka, Poland’s Minister of Education, also attended the ceremony.
The Ministry of National Education announced the success on social media, noting that it was the first time a teacher from Poland had reached such a high position in the competition’s history.
Ewa Drobek is an English and German teacher at the 15th Upper Secondary School with Bilingual Sections named after Narcyza Żmichowska in Warsaw, and the prize jury recognised her for her innovative teaching methods.
The achievement is all the more notable given the scale of the competition, which attracted around 100,000 applications worldwide.
Drobek was also recognised for her creative artistic projects and for supporting students with disabilities, refugees, and those at risk of social exclusion. She has 25 years of teaching experience and has authored 76 publications aimed at fellow educators.
The top prize - a $1m award - went to Rouble Nagi of India. However, Drobek’s result marks the highest placing ever achieved by a Polish teacher at the Global Teacher Prize. In previous years, Polish educators who reached the top 50 included Jolanta Okuniewska (2016), Mariusz Zyngier (2017), Magdalena Dygała (2019), Przemysław Staroń (2020) and Marek Grzywna (2025).
Alongside the Polish finalist, the top ten also featured teachers from Italy, Argentina, the United States, Colombia, Spain, India, Nigeria and Australia.
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Source: Polish Radio/MEN