Selecting the right career is one of the most important decisions any student has to make in their life. Over the last decade, increasing competition has not just raised the bars of eligibility in professional fields but has also given birth to various new avenues for students to choose from.
Delhi University students have been quite bold in pursuing fresh ¬†career options . In the last few years, the demand to fit certain aspirations, has led the university to launch new courses like Buddhist studies, Library Sciences and so on. These courses have given the students the much needed exposure to take their competencies forward. Students today, don’t just look for high-end packages, but scope for growth, opportunities to gain multiple skills and most importantly, to be able to do what they love and are passionate about.
The Teach For India Fellowship has been one such exciting  opportunity for the young and fierce minds of Delhi University, which has seen an increase in enrollment in the past decade.
Teach For India‚Äôs Chief Executive Officer, Shaheen Mistri, took on one of the nation’s most daunting challenges: educational inequity, by creating a movement of bright young Indians who work to provide quality education to children from low-income backgrounds. She took inspiration from Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America and started Teach For India in 2009, which today, has turned into a nationwide movement that most youth aspire to be a part of to drive impact.
So, what is Teach For India?
Teach For India is a non-profit organisation that recruits college students and professionals, into its two-year, paid-fellowship program, where recruits serve as full-time teachers in under-resourced schools. This fellowship program is a part of the prestigious ¬†’Teach For All Network’. Teach For India works in about seven cities including Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru amongst others.
Why is the Teach For India Fellowship a great career option for the students?
Today, college students aim to transcend their comfort zones, and aspire for more in their lives. Students aim to build a strong social network for themselves to discover career opportunities, as well as track self-growth and development. Teach For India has ay vast social network that engages communities, and partners from the organization, holding children at the centre of their work. Fellows connect with each other on a ground level and receive mentorship opportunities from program managers, who track their goals in the two year duration. Teach For India builds leadership capabilities in its Fellows, where they learn decision-making, time-management and strategy skills to improve themselves, as well as the communities they operate within. A host of college graduates join Teach For India because they get opportunities to go above and beyond their role as teachers but also counsel and mentor the students they work with, and hence, witness their students blossoming into young leaders who advocate for change themselves.
Listed below are anecdotes from Delhi University students, who share their insights on serving as Fellows to their students:
Ambica Singh, a History graduate from Kamala Nehru College, says, “The first time I entered a Teach for India classroom, I saw what confidence and independence in kids looks like in a classroom. It almost seemed revolutionary, all the new methods they used in class. Teach for India has helped me embark on a journey of self-discovery, and self-improvement from the moment I stepped in as a volunteer, and that journey continues as I work as a Fellow.”
Kushagra Tayal, a graduate in Economics ¬†from Hansraj College, says, “When I met Teach For India alumni, I was taken aback by the pleasing personality of the other Fellows and staff. I had wanted to work on aspects of my personality for a long time and this can be an amazing way to do just that. Also, I love being among children. It gives me a lot happiness and just makes me incredibly happy. Moreover, the post fellowship opportunities are just mind boggling. I can‚Äôt fully explain how beneficial Teach For India can prove to be in the long run, it is something you can only experience yourself.”
Teach For India creates large-scale impact in communities, but also empowers Fellows to hone their skills, build leadership capabilities and contribute positively to the education landscape in the country.
To apply to the Fellowship, visit https://apply.teachforindia.org/ and fill out your application by March 24th 2019, 10 PM IST.
