Page 15 - T4 Education PR REPORT - August 2024

UAE’s Nargish Khambatta finalist for Asia Education Medal
up the torch. It is given to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership and advocacy
in the field of educa on.

The winner of the Asia Educa on Medal will be invited to a end the World Schools Summit, which will be
held in Dubai on November 23 and 24, 2024. In recogni on of the urgent need to solve the teacher

recruitment and reten on crisis to tackle learning gaps, the winner will be en tled to nominate a school of

their choice to receive membership of T4 Educa on’s Best School to Work programme, an independent,
evidence-based mechanism to cer fy schools for their culture and help them transform their working

environment to a ract and retain the best teachers.

Nargish Khamba a is the Principal and CEO of GEMS Modern Academy, an independent interna onal

school in Dubai, UAE, which was named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for
Innova on 2023.

Having integrated technology and entrepreneurship into its curriculum, the school has seen a 37 per cent
year-on-year rise in student par cipa on and na onal and interna onal collabora ons with the likes of DFC,

SAP and Microso .

Recognising the need to prepare students for an uncertain future, GEMS Modern Academy introduced a

number of technological innova ons into its curriculum and prac ces to include the region’s first online
report card system, developed en rely by students and teachers. The school also introduced a Bring Your

Own Device (BYOD) programme, as part of which students from Grade 2 onwards bring their own learning
devices.

In 2015-16, a er sending teachers to Carnegie Mellon University for training in Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) and technology integra on, the school incorporated the disciplines

into classrooms. Furthermore, a er partnering with Harvard Project Zero, the school developed thinking
rou nes and a mul disciplinary approach towards innova on, known as the future’s curriculum method,

which has been adopted by several other schools.

Altogether, this has led to an entrepreneurial mindset that the school fosters. Star ng in primary school with

Unit of Inquiry projects and moving on to Challenge-Based Learning in middle school and the school’s Prism
Project and Entrepreneurship and Innova on Programme in senior school, GEMS Modern Academy provides

what it calls a scaffolded strategy for developing cri cal thinking, problem-solving, design thinking and a
growth mindset.

Khamba a’s outstanding leadership led her to receive the first-ever GEMS Excep onal Head of School
Award in 2018.

Her philosophy is that all children should be given ample opportunity to discover their self-worth, interests
and passion in a secure and happy environment, which helps them grow into confident young adults with a

sound intellectual and moral compass to guide them to their goals.

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