Keningau student finalist for Global Student Prize 2025
KOTA KINABALU (July 19): Siti Nur Hanisah Omar Hashim, a 20-year-old student of Early Childhood Education at Keningau Vocational College (KVC), is one of the 50 finalists for the Global Student Prize 2025, which offers a total prize of USD100,000 (RM400,000) to one winner.
The award, sponsored by the UK-based Varkey Foundation and Chegg.org, is considered the most prestigious student award in the world.
In 2025, the award received 11,000 nominations, and Hanisah is the only Malaysian to qualify as a finalist for this award.
This list of 50 nominees was announced officially on social media and website of Varkey Foundation on July 17.
Hanisah was selected as a finalist for her achievements, contributions and impact on other students and within the education community.
She is the founder of a social enterprise called Mearpet, which recycles used clothing and stuffed toys into puppets used to educate and entertain children.
This project has won numerous awards both locally and internationally, including RM3,000 in prize money through the Pitchbah competition organized by the OOZE youth club in 2023, as well as the YouthMADE Festival Amplify Grant from the US-based Digital Promise in 2025.
It was also featured on the DidikTV KPM television channel in early 2025.
Hanisah has organized social enterprise workshops and competitions at the college, which have inspired many students to develop their own social projects such as sign language tutoring classes, food waste reduction campaigns, and toy innovations made from recycled materials.
These students have won several competitions, including the Social Project Challenge hosted by myHarapan and Yayasan Telekom Malaysia. Hanisah is also an outstanding academic achiever, consistently receiving the Best Student Award every year. She is also the former vice president of the college's student council.
Other than the Mearpet project, she has also initiated a Malaysian University English Test (MUET) for vocational college students who plan to pursue tertiary education as well as led a virtual internationalization learning session that connects students and teachers from different countries.
The college director, Lumang anak Lang, expressed pride in Hanisah's achievement, stating that this success is proof that vocational colleges under the Malaysian Ministry of Education are capable and committed to producing skilled, competent, ambitious students who contribute to society.
Hanisah's profile as a 2025 Global Student Prize finalist can be accessed on: https://globalteacherprize.org/news/global-student-prize-finalists/2025-finalists-global-student-prize/1902/1902-Siti-Nur-Hanisah-Omar-Hashim
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