Indian educator and social activist Rouble Nagi has been awarded the $1 million Global Teacher Prize. She accepted the honor at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
Nagi’s Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established more than 800 learning centres across India, offering structured lessons for children who have never attended school and extra support for those already enrolled. She and her team also paint large educational murals in slum and community spaces that teach basic literacy, science, math, history and other subjects in a visually engaging way.
The award is presented by the Varkey Foundation, founded by Sunny Varkey, who also launched GEMS Education, a major private school operator with campuses in countries including Egypt, Qatar and the UAE. Nagi said she intends to use the $1 million prize to found an institute that will provide free vocational training.
Nagi is the tenth recipient since the prize began in 2015. Previous winners have included a Kenyan teacher who devoted much of his income to helping the poor, a Palestinian primary teacher recognized for teaching non-violence, and a Canadian educator who worked with Inuit students in a remote Arctic community. Last year’s laureate was Saudi educator Mansour al-Mansour, noted for his work with disadvantaged students.
GEMS Education (Global Education Management Systems) is among the world’s largest private school groups and is widely reported to be worth billions, a position tied in part to Dubai’s reliance on private schools to educate the children of its large expatriate workforce.
