Inspiring children to learn: A boy climbing on a pipe next to a wall showing a mural by the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation in Dhobi Ghat, Mumbai, India. — AP
AN Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centres and painting educational murals across the walls of slums won the US$1mil (RM3.95mil) Global Teacher Prize.
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, on Thursday.
Her Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established more than 800 learning centres across India which aim to have children who never attended school begin to have structured learning.
Nagi also paints murals that teach literacy, science, math and history, among other topics.
Accepting the award, Nagi said the prize was an honour for herself and for India.
She said she began 24 years ago with 30 children in one small workshop, and now reached over a million children.
“I think every step has just motivated me, inspired me to take every child in India to school,” Nagi said.
“You know when I was a child, it was my dream to see every child at school and as you grow up fulfilling that, I think it’s a very humbling experience.”
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.
“Rouble Nagi represents the very best of what teaching can be – courage, creativity, compassion, and an unwavering belief in every child’s potential,” Varkey said in a statement posted to the Global Teacher Prize website.
“By bringing education to the most marginalised communities, she has not only changed individual lives, but strengthened families and communities.”
Nagi plans to use the money to build an institute that offers free vocational training.
Stefania Giannini, Unesco assistant director-general for Education, said Nagi “reminds us of a simple truth: teachers matter”.
In comments carried on the prize website, Giannini said Unesco was “honoured to join the Global Teacher Prize in celebrating teachers like you, who, through patience, determination and belief in every learner, help children into school – an act that can change the course of a life”. — AP
