Page 35 - T4 Education PR REPORT - August 2024

UAE’s Nargish Khambatta named finalist for inaugural Asia education medal

The Asia Educa on Medal recognises the reless work of those who are transforming educa on across the
con nent, celebra ng the stories of those who have lit the spark of change so others will be inspired to take 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.

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