Teacher Wins $1 Million Prize For Creating 800 Art Classrooms in India's Slums
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She transformed some of the country’s most underserved communities into vibrant learning spaces, and has now been awarded one of education’s highest honours.
Rouble Nagi, a 45-year-old artist, has received the prestigious $1 million Global Teacher Prize - an award launched by the Varkey Foundation in collaboration with UNESCO to recognize educators who have made exceptional contributions to the profession. She was selected from 5,000 nominations and applications spanning 139 countries.
It all started nearly thirty years ago when a young boy walked into one of her art workshops in Mumbai. Nagi soon learned that he lived in a slum and couldn’t afford to attend school. That moment changed everything. She realized something powerful: children in marginalized communities were eager to learn - they simply lacked access. And she believed art could be the bridge.
After that lightbulb moment, she established a nonprofit organization called the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation and began taking education directly into underserved areas. Today, her foundation now runs more than 800 learning centres across India in over 100 underserved communities and villages, bringing education to thousands of young people who might otherwise have gone without it.
Instead of just being traditional classrooms, her centres use art-based learning to simplify complex subjects and spark curiosity. “Learning can happen anywhere. You just have to make it interesting,” Nagi says.
With the $1 million prize, Nagi intends to expand her foundation’s initiatives to even more communities across India.
