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From Slum Walls to Classrooms: Rouble Nagi’s Inspiring Education Mission
Artist and educator Rouble Nagi has brought education to underserved children through painted-wall classrooms, reaching over one million children across India.
What happens when a child has the desire to learn but no school to go to?
Rouble Nagi found an answer.
Born in Jammu and Kashmir and later becoming a successful artist, Rouble discovered that many children living in Mumbai’s slums had never been to school because their families could not afford it.
Around 24 years ago, after meeting a young boy at one of her art workshops, she visited his community and saw the difficult conditions children were growing up in.
Instead of waiting for a school to reach them, she brought the classroom to the children.
Rouble began painting alphabets, numbers, multiplication tables, maps and science lessons on community walls. Children soon gathered around her, and the painted walls became classrooms.
Through the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation, her initiative has grown to more than 800 learning centres across over 100 underserved communities and villages in India. More than 600 educators and volunteers have been trained, while children receive books, school bags and other learning materials.
The foundation also works to improve living conditions, having painted and repaired more than 1.5 lakh homes in slums and villages. Her work has reached over one million children, helping many enter formal schools.
In February 2026, Rouble won the 2026 GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. The award, given by The Varkey Foundation in partnership with UNESCO, came with a prize of US$1 million.
Rouble plans to use the prize money to create a free institute for vocational and digital skills and open schools for underprivileged children in Jammu and Kashmir.
Her story carries a powerful message:
A classroom does not always need four walls. Sometimes, a wall, a paintbrush and a teacher who believes in children are enough to begin a journey of learning.