A teacher in a village school in India, praised for enhancing the education of girls, has won this year's International Teacher Prize. 

But Ranjitsinh Disale has given away half of the $1m (£750,000) - sharing it with runners-up in the contest. A unique Covid Hero prize was won by Jamie Frost, a UK teacher who ran a free maths tuition website. Stephen Fry announced the winners in an online ceremony. Mr. Disale, who teaches from the Zilla Parishad Primary School, at the drought-prone village of Paritewadi, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, has been named the world's most outstanding teacher before 12,000 additional nominations.

Education is a birthright'; "During this challenging time, teachers are providing their very best to ensure each student has access to their birthright of a fantastic education," said Mr. Disale, aged 32.

Teachers" always believe in sharing and giving," he stated, and as such was sharing half his prize money among the other educators shortlisted in the top 10.

The contest's judges commended Mr. Disale because of his job to make sure underprivileged women went to college and achieved high grades - rather than missing out on school and facing early marriage. Also, he offers online science lessons for students in 83 countries and runs international project building connections between young people in different conflict zones.

"The Covid pandemic has dealt a severe blow to education systems around the world.. but it is the contribution of teachers during these difficult times that is making the difference," said Stefania Giannini, assistant director general of Unesco, a partner in the International Teacher competition.

Sunny Varkey, the founder of the Varkey Foundation that sets up the teachers' contest, stated, "by sharing the prize, you teach the world the importance of giving." Mr. Disale's decision to divide the prize will imply over £40,000 each for runners-up from nations including Italy, Brazil, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, the US, and Jamie Frost from the United Kingdom.

Mr. Frost, a teacher from Tiffin School in Kingston-upon-Thames, was praised for his job running the DrFrostMaths online learning platform, which aided families with children trying to research from home during the lockdowns. He also won a distinctive one-off Covid Hero prize worth about £34,000. The maths teacher cautioned that the pandemic had widened educational inequalities." That is the reason why I've spent all the time i could adapting my free online learning platform to help students throughout the globe who are away from their classrooms," said Mr. Frostsaid. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson commended the"creativity and ingenuity" of Mr. Frost along with the winning teachers.

"Although I'm speaking to you in challenging and heartbreaking circumstances, it's only right that we take the time to recognize the enormous contribution and sacrifice of the world's teachers in this pandemic," said Mr. Johnson. Next year there will also be a trophy for students, run together with the US educational technology firm, Chegg.