Selected from more than 5,000 nominees, Rouble Nagi was awarded the honour in Dubai for her decades-long educational outreach in underserved Indian communities. Through the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation and its interactive learning walls, she has successfully transitioned over one million children into formal schooling. Operating more than 800 centres with flexible hours and recycled materials, her model has cut student dropout rates by over 50%. The $1 million prize will now finance a new Skilling Institute designed to offer free vocational instruction to disadvantaged teenagers.
Key points
The Global Teacher Prize recognised two decades of transforming neglected public spaces i…: The Global Teacher Prize recognised two decades of transforming neglected public spaces into interactive educational resources for impoverished children.
Flexible scheduling and recycled materials helped more than 600 trained educators success…: Flexible scheduling and recycled materials helped more than 600 trained educators successfully overcome child labour and poverty barriers.
The entirety of the $1 million prize fund will be dedicated to establishing a vocational…: The entirety of the $1 million prize fund will be dedicated to establishing a vocational and digital literacy Skilling Institute.
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An abandoned wall in a neighbourhood rarely attracts much attention. But for Indian artist and educator Rouble Nagi, it can become a classroom, a learning resource and a starting point for a child's education. Over the past two decades, she has transformed neglected walls into interactive educational murals, using art to bring learning closer to children in underserved communities.
Nagi has now been named the winner of the $1 million GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize 2026, an initiative of the Varkey Foundation organised in collaboration with UNESCO. Her name was announced at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, where she was selected from more than 5,000 nominations and applications representing 139 countries. Now in its tenth year, the award is among the largest global recognitions for educators.
From neglected walls to open-air classrooms
At the centre of Nagi's work is her concept of 'Living Walls of Learning'. Through this initiative, broken and abandoned walls are converted into large-scale educational murals that introduce children to subjects such as literacy, numeracy, science, hygiene, history and environmental awareness.
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