Indian educator and activist Rouble Nagi has been awarded the prestigious $1 million Global Teacher Prize for her transformative work establishing hundreds of learning centers and creating educational murals in underserved communities across India. The ceremony took place during the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Thursday, where Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum presented the honor.
Nagi’s Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established over 800 learning centers nationwide, providing structured education to both out-of-school children and those already enrolled in formal education systems. Her innovative approach includes painting educational murals on slum walls that teach literacy, numeracy, science, and history through visual storytelling.
In her acceptance speech, Nagi reflected on her journey that began 24 years ago with 30 children in a small workshop and has since impacted over one million young lives. “Each step has only motivated and inspired me to get every child in India into school,” she stated. “As a child, it was my dream to see every child attend school, and as you grow older and make that dream come true for as many children as possible, it’s a very humbling experience.”
The Varkey Foundation, established by GEMS Education founder Sunny Varkey, administers the annual award. Varkey praised Nagi as representing “the very best of what teaching can be: courage, creativity, compassion, and an unshakeable belief in every child’s potential.” He noted that her work has “not only transformed individual lives but strengthened families and communities.”
Nagi plans to utilize the prize money to establish a vocational training institute offering free skill development programs. The award received endorsement from UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini, who emphasized that Nagi’s recognition “reminds us of a simple truth: teachers matter.”
Now in its tenth year, the Global Teacher Prize has previously honored educators including a Kenyan teacher who donated most of his earnings to the poor, a Palestinian teacher promoting non-violence education, and a Canadian educator working with Inuit students in remote Arctic communities. Last year’s recipient was Saudi teacher Mansour al-Mansour for his work with underprivileged communities.