Indian teacher Rouble Nagi wins $1 million Global Teacher Prize
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DUBAI, UAE: An Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centres and painting educational murals across the walls of slums won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize on Thursday.
Rouble Nagi accepted the award at the World Governments Summit in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, an annual event that draws leaders from across the globe.
Her Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established more than 800 learning centres across India. They aim to give children who never attended school structured learning and also provide support to children already in school.
Nagi also paints murals that teach literacy, science, maths and history, among other topics.
The prize is awarded by the Varkey Foundation, whose founder, Sunny Varkey, established the for‑profit GEMS Education company that runs dozens of schools in Egypt, Qatar and the UAE.
Nagi plans to use the $1 million to build an institute that offers free vocational training.
She is the 10th teacher to win the award, which the foundation began handing out in 2015.
And the 2026 GEMS Education #GlobalTeacherPrize winner is… Rouble Nagi! 🏆
— Global Teacher Prize (@TeacherPrize) February 5, 2026
A globally recognised Indian artist, educator, and social innovator, Rouble transforms neglected and broken walls into large-scale, interactive murals that teach everything from literacy and numeracy to… pic.twitter.com/GbgxJypD2L
Past winners of the Global Teacher Prize have included a Kenyan teacher from a remote village who gave away most of his earnings to the poor, a Palestinian primary school teacher who teaches her students about non‑violence and a Canadian educator who taught a remote Arctic village of Inuit students. Last year’s winner was Saudi educator Mansour al‑Mansour, known for his work with the poor in the kingdom.
GEMS Education, or Global Education Management Systems, is one of the world’s largest private school operators and is believed to be worth billions. Its success has followed that of Dubai, where only private schools offer classes for the children of the foreigners who power its economy.
By RSS/AP
