Teach for India (TFI) – a non-profit organisation that aims to make quality education accessible to all children in India – invites applications for the TFI Fellowship Programme 2017-19. The last date for submission of applications is February 7, 2017.
India is currently facing one of the worst educational crises in the world. Today, not every child enrolls in school and less than 10 percent graduate and enter college. Moreover, those who make it school do not have access to quality education, their basic human right, that truly maximises their potential and gives them the opportunities to do what they want to do and be who they want to be.

Teach For India is a non-profit organisation that believes in providing quality education to all children and striving to end this problem of educational inequity. To address this challenge, the organisation runs a highly selective two-year Fellowship programme that provides an opportunity for India’s brightest minds to serve as full-time teachers to children from low-income communities in some of the nation’s most under-resourced schools.

The Fellowship programme is rigorous, challenging and provides Fellows an opportunity to develop themselves as leaders and simultaneously transform the lives of children under their care. Fellows get exposed to the grassroot realities of India’s education system and begin to cultivate the knowledge, skills and mindsets necessary to attain positions of leadership in education and identify their role in building a wider movement for educational equity in the country. “The Fellowship experience was a test by fire and hugely helped in developing my leadership qualities. It enhanced my sense of responsibility towards making quality education a reality for every child and my ability to affect that change,” says 2009 Fellow Sidharth Agarwal, currently working as director – Organisational Development with Teach For All.

The impact that this programme has on student’s growth and development is extraordinary. Take for example 17 year old Priyanka Patil who is currently pursuing her higher education at UWC Adriatic in Italy on a full scholarship or 14 year old Aman Singh who conducts academic learning circles for other children in his community. “Our classrooms have been more developed because of Teach For India Fellows. They are even guiding our teachers on teaching methods,” says Kamat, principal – Maharashtra High School.

Enriched by their experiences and insights, many of Teach For India’s 1500 alumni work towards bringing about systemic change within the education sector as teachers, teacher-trainers, school principals, curriculum designers and education policy researchers or even ed entrepreneurs such as Lewitt Somarajan who co-founded LIFELabs – an initiative that aims to foster creativity and love for science among underprivileged children. While several others choose to support the ecosystem surrounding the education sector as journalists, lawyers, health experts, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. “I believe the Teach For India Fellowship gives you key leadership skills for the future: setting a vision, creating a strategic roadmap and motivating people to get there while managing crisis on a day to day basis. Godrej loves to hire Teach for India Fellows for this reason,” says Nisa Godrej, executive director – Godrej Group.

Teach For India currently boasts 1200 Fellows impacting over 42,000 children in more than 320 schools across Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

To apply for the Fellowship, visit http://apply.teachforindia.org/.

For more details on the Fellowship and Teach for India, log onto www.teachforindia.org/become-fellow.