Page 58 - T4 Education PR REPORT - August 2024

UAE's Nargish Khambatta Named Finalist for Inaugural Asia Education Medal
UAE's Nargish Khambatta Named Finalist for

Inaugural Asia Education Medal

Founded by HP and T4 Education, the new award will be given to an outstanding individual who has
demonstrated impact, leadership, and advocacy in the field of education

Dubai, 7 August 2024 – The UAE’s Nargish Khambatta, Principal and CEO of GEMS Modern Academy, has been

named among the ten Finalists for the inaugural Asia Education Medal. Founded this year by HP and T4
Education, the new award will be given to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership, and
advocacy in the field of education.

The Asia Education Medal recognises the tireless work of those who are transforming education across the
continent – celebrating the stories of those who have lit the spark of change so that others will be inspired to carry

the torch. The medal is awarded to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership, and
advocacy in the field of education.

The winner of the Asia Education Medal will be invited to attend the World Schools Summit in Dubai on 23-24
November and, in recognition of the urgent need to solve the teacher recruitment and retention crisis to tackle
learning gaps, the winner will be entitled to nominate a school of their choice to receive membership of T4

Education’s Best School to Work programme – an independent, evidence-based mechanism to certify schools for
their culture and help them transform their working environment to attract and retain the best teachers.

Nargish Khambatta is the Principal and CEO of GEMS Modern Academy, an independent international school in
Dubai, UAE, which was named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation 2023.

Having integrated technology and entrepreneurship into its curriculum, the school has seen a 37% year-on-year
rise in student participation and national and international collaborations with the likes of DFC, SAP, and Microsoft.

Recognising the need to prepare students for an uncertain future, GEMS Modern Academy introduced several
technological innovations into its curriculum and practices to include the region's first online report card system,
developed entirely by students and teachers. The school even has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme,

through which students from Grade 2 onwards bring their own learning devices.

In 2015-16, after sending teachers to Carnegie Mellon University for training in STEAM and technology integration,
the school incorporated the disciplines into classrooms. Also, after partnering with Harvard Project Zero, the school
developed thinking routines and a multidisciplinary approach towards innovation, known as the futures curriculum
method, which has been adopted by several other schools.

Altogether, this has led to an entrepreneurial mindset that the school deliberately fosters. Starting 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 Innovation Programme in senior school, GEMS Modern Academy provides what
it calls a scaffolded strategy for developing critical thinking, problem-solving, design thinking and a growth mindset.

Khambatta’s outstanding leadership of the school saw her receive the first-ever GEMS Exceptional Head of School
Award in 2018.

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