“Education is the passport to future for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Education opens doors to new opportunities, and it is heart-wrenching to learn that some don’t have access to education due to numerous reasons. To curb this issue and to ensure that people from all walks of life have access to quality education, a lot of nonprofit organizations and other organizations conduct various programs.
Teach for India is a fellowship program that was founded by Shaheen Mistri in 2009. By encouraging young minds from various top colleges and universities to teach children hailing from low-income backgrounds, Teach for India is not just making quality education accessible for all, it is also giving these college students exposure to the education system in India while inculcating multiple skills in them.
Teach for India is a widely recognized leadership movement and a lot of graduate students from across the country sign up for the same. It is a paid fellowship program that does a lot of good to children and budding adults.
Teach for India
The program looks for young graduates with good critical thinking and problem-solving skills, who can dedicate two years of their time to the program. Let us take a look at how to get into the Teach for India program and the steps involved in the same.
To get into the program, there are a couple of selection levels and interviews that the applicants have to go through. Starting with applying for the fellowship.
- Apply for the fellowship by visiting the Teach for India website. The major dates that the applicants should take note of would be mentioned on the official site. Along with the application, the applicant would be asked to give an online test where critical thinking and problem-solving abilities would be analyzed. Basic language and English skills would also be tested.
- Once the application is shortlisted, the applicant will have to attend a phone interview. This interview is designed to understand more about the applicant.
- The final stage is the assessment stage where the applicant is asked to teach a 5-minute lesson, take part in a group activity, and complete a short problem-solving activity. This will be followed by a discussion with a community member of the team.
As mentioned, this fellowship program is a beautiful opportunity for the graduates to give back to society and fill the educational gap that arises for a myriad of reasons.
Advantages of Teaching Fellowships
1. Hands-on experience
Experience is one of the biggest benefits of a teaching fellowship. If you are someone considering teaching as a profession, there’s no better way to get an edge over others. Not to mention the added happiness of taking a child one step closer to their dream or even better, enabling them to dream! Teaching experience will help you polish and hone the teaching skills that will help you become a better teacher.
2. Financial Benefits
Most of the teaching fellowships pay their fellows and this is a financial benefit. Teach for India is a paid fellowship and along with gaining experience and a sense of satisfaction, it adds financial benefits to the chart.
3. Professional Development
As mentioned, fellowships help individuals and graduates to learn new skills and inculcate new values. This helps to develop professionally and also broaden their professional network.
4. Improved Confidence
Teaching for two years or so and meeting new people and facing a set of students is bound to increase one’s confidence. This will definitely be of help to the fellow in the long run.
5. Research Possibilities
You get to learn a lot of new things when you are teaching. Teaching and learning go hand in hand. If you are someone who wants to pursue research, a fellowship is a great opportunity. Even if you are not planning to do so, you will be able to get a deeper understanding of the subject that you are teaching and that itself is a win!
Here is a small infographic that talks about what Teach for India stands for:
As discussed, fellowships help young graduates in a lot of ways and a fellowship like Teach for India stands to bridge the gap and fill in the void. Much like Teachmint, whose vision is to democratize education.
To bring ease and efficiency to the table, it is of utmost importance to digitize your school. With a brilliant suite of features, the Teachmint Integrated School Platform makes the process of management, teaching, learning, and analysis- easy, effective, and practically consolidated with one another. Check out the features here.
