Indian educator Rouble Nagi from Mumbai received the $1 million Global Teacher Prize 2026 at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, presented the award, alongside Sunny Varkey, founder of GEMS Education and the Varkey Foundation.
Nagi won the award for educating over a million children in slums and rural communities across India through the 'Misaal India' programme. Run by Nagi's Rouble Nagi Art Foundation, the programme operates over 800 learning centres in more than 100 slums and villages. The centres also support children already enroled in school, providing remedial education, emotional safety, and creative enrichment.
Nagi's 'Misaal Mumbai' initiative was India's first slum transformation project, painting 155,000 homes, improving sanitation and hygiene education.
Nagi's innovative 'Living Walls of Learning' initiative turned neglected walls into vibrant, interactive open-air murals. These serve as dynamic classrooms teaching literacy, mathematics, science, hygiene, history, environmental care, and civic duty, actively pulling in children, involving parents, and mobilising communities for education.
Her work nurtures creativity, resilience, and global citizenship, showing how education and compassion can transform communities.
In its 10th year, the GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize, managed by the Varkey Foundation in partnership with UNESCO, celebrates teachers' remarkable professional achievements and underscores their essential societal contributions.