What is Teach for India?
What is Teach For India?
It is a nationwide movement of outstanding college graduates and young professionals who will commit two years to teach full-time in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders working from within various sectors towards equity in education.
She believed that the solution was a people’s movement that provided every Indian child with an outstanding education.
Backdrop
In 2007, Shaheen Mistri met with Wendy Kopp, the Founder of Teach For America, and got the idea of doing the same in India.
In 2009, Teach For India welcomed the first group, the Class of 2009, to the Fellowship.
Presently, Teach For India has 900 Fellows working relentlessly to change the lives of students in their classrooms and have become leaders driving change.
What is Teach For India’s model? Why Teach For India is necessary?
Teach For India provides resources, training, and support to the young leaders recruited to the Fellowship so they can employ innovative teaching strategies and maximize their effectiveness in the classroom. During the two years, Fellows gain important knowledge and experience of India’s educational system and its challenges, enabling them to solve problems faced within their classrooms.
Today, millions of low-income children in India do not have access to the same quality of education as their wealthier peers. As a result, more than one in three students will drop out of primary school before the fifth standard.
The Training procedure
A 5-week Training Institute is organized to prepare the Fellows for teaching in school. It is innovative, rigorous and tries to push every Fellow far beyond his comfort zone. On the first day of training, Fellows undergo 4 weeks of on-the-job training by teaching in summer school. By the time Institute is over, they are ready for school.
The Impact
The Teach For India Alumni is serving more than 33 million children; 1 in 10 Indian children is now reached by a Teach For India Alumni. More than 77% of their Alumni continue to serve in the social sector. A recent study shows that Teach For India’s community has founded more than 150+ organizations.
By- Sweta Singh, Secondary Teacher
