Indian teacher who created hundreds of learning centers wins $1 million Global Teacher Prize

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centers and painting educational murals across the walls of slums won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize on Thursday.

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.

Her Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established more than 800 learning centers across India. They aim to have children who never attended school begin to have structured learning. They also teach children already in school.

Nagi also paints murals that teach literacy, science, math and history, among other topics.

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.

Nagi plans to use the $1 million to build an institute that offers free vocational training.

Nagi is the 10th teacher to win the award, which the foundation began handing out in 2015.

Past winners of the Global Teacher Prize have included a Kenyan teacher from a remote village who gave away most of his earnings to the poor, a Palestinian primary school teacher who teaches her students about non-violence and a Canadian educator who taught a remote Arctic village of Inuit students. Last year’s winner was Saudi educator Mansour al-Mansour, who was known for his work with the poor in the kingdom.

GEMS Education, or Global Education Management Systems, is one of the world’s largest private school operators and is believed to be worth billions. Its success has followed that of Dubai, where only private schools offer classes for the children of the foreigners who power its economy.

A boy plays near a wall of public toilet that shows a mural by the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation in the Dhobi Ghat area of Mumbai, India, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A boy stands beside a wall that shows a mural by the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation in the Dhobi Ghat area of Mumbai, India, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Indian teacher Rouble Nagi, left, greets Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum before receiving the Global Teacher Prize trophy from him at a ceremony awarding the Global Teacher Prize in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian teacher Rouble Nagi walks off the stage after receiving the Global Teacher Prize trophy from Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum at a ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian teacher Rouble Nagi walks off the stage after receiving the Global Teacher Prize trophy from Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum at a ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian teacher Rouble Nagi poses for a photograph after receiving the Global Teacher Prize at a ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian teacher Rouble Nagi, left, receives the Global Teacher Prize trophy from Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, as Varkey foundation founder Sunny Varkey, right, applauds during the ceremony, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian teacher Rouble Nagi, left, receives the Global Teacher Prize trophy from Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, at a ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's plans for a new triumphal arch in the capital, unveiled on Friday, include a towering winged figure with a Lady Liberty-like torch and crown, flanked by two eagles and guarded by four lions — all gilded.

The 12-page plan released by the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts shows the arch will stand 250 feet tall (76.2 meters) from its base to the tip of the winged figure's torch, with “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” inscribed in gold atop either side of the monument.

The plan indicates the structure would stand between the Lincoln Memorial in the east and Arlington National Cemetery toward the west and within a traffic circle connecting Washington with northern Virginia. The arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, which stands at 99 feet tall (30.2 meters).

Trump wrote on social media that it “will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World. This will be a wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!”

Trump has said he wants to build the arch near the Lincoln Memorial and argued that the nation’s capital first sought such a monument 200 years ago.

“It was interrupted by a thing called the Civil War, and so it never got built,” Trump said in February. “Then, they almost built something in 1902, but it never happened.”

Trump has said that major cities around the world have such monuments, and Washington is the only one without one.

The arch is one of several architectural changes Trump is making in his second term. In addition to building a large ballroom at the White House, he's also made changes to the Oval Office and converted the Rose Garden into a stone-covered patio.

The arch goes beyond the White House, giving Trump a chance to leave another lasting monument in a city known for them. It would expand on his earlier talk of sprucing up the city by replacing its “tired” grasses, and broken signage and street medians.

Artist renderings and diagrams for President Donald Trump's new triumphal arch released by the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts that is planned to be built in Washington between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, are photographed Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Artist renderings and diagrams for President Donald Trump's new triumphal arch released by the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts that is planned to be built in Washington between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, are photographed Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Artist renderings and diagrams for President Donald Trump's new triumphal arch released by the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts that is planned to be built in Washington between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, are photographed Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Artist renderings and diagrams for President Donald Trump's new triumphal arch released by the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts that is planned to be built in Washington between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, are photographed Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

A boy holds up a rendering of an arch President Donald Trump proposed building to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary as Trump speaks with reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Cranes being used to construct the new White House ballroom are seen around the White House, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)