30-year-old Sydney Engelbert, who teaches English at Keningau Vocational College in Keningau, Sabah, has been voted as the winner of the prestigious 2024 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards, the 2nd Malaysian to win the award after Khalifa Affnan, who won in 2022.
Standing out from the over 14,800 nominations from over 140 countries, Sydney was grateful and speechless at receiving the award, asserting,
“I never would have thought to be selected as the regional winner as other nominees were all amazing and I am truly honoured to be nominated amongst them. Yet, the overwhelming support that I have from my family, friends, colleagues and my students made me realise that I am not alone in this, oftentimes, can be a challenging journey.”
Raised in the rural areas of Sabah and started teaching in 2019
Born and raised in Tambunan, a rural area in Sabah, Sydney said that her parents are both teachers and inspired her to delve into teaching.
She pursued her tertiary education at an education university in West Malaysia and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).
Sydney started teaching in 2019, and she learned to tackle her students’ limited proficiency through a variety of language art activities.
Co-pioneered an online international exchange class programme
In 2022, she co-pioneered an online exchange class programme with several vocational schools in Southeast Asia, in which each cycle runs for three months.
Within two years, the programme directly benefitted almost 400 students and 50 teachers from all the participating schools. Sydney also plays an active role in other internationalisation programmes, like hosting foreign students at her school.
Awesome! Congratulations to Sydney for her amazing achievement. We hope this award will be a catalyst for her to excel and make a difference in our country’s education system and inspire other Malaysian educators. 
