Teach for India

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Challenges for Education in rural areas

Eight million children still remain out of school and their integration into an age-appropriate class remains a significant challenge. Millions of children drop out of school before completing the first stage of elementary education. Only 27% of rural schools in India have electricity compared to 76% of schools in towns and cities.

Other challenges

- Lack of proper transportation. Most villages have poor connectivity from one place to another

- Lack of proper infrastructure like proper classrooms, teaching equipment, playgrounds. Drinking water facility was available in 94.2 % Ramp facilities were available in only 61.63 % of the schools, only 64.8 %of the primary schools had separate toilets for boys and girls.

- Average size of classroom is 100 ( ASER report)

- More than half of the students in fifth grade are unable to read a second grade text book and are not able to solve simple mathematical problems

- Most textbooks are in English and since people in rural areas either speak their native language or Hindi, but not English that defeats the purpose. This results in lack of their interest in studies. This requires need of teachers well versed in regional languages

The pupil-teacher ratio was RTE-compliant in only 59 per cent of the schools.

CSR activities in India

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has defined corporate social responsibility (CSR) as

“a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. CSR is a way in which companies achieve a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives.”

CSR activities across the world have to a great extent helped motivate and support many social causes. CSR in developed countries are mainly concentrated in the environment sector while in India it is mainly concentrated in the social sector. NGOs in India rely a lot on CSR activities as a source of funding for their long term sustainability. Looking at this, Under the Companies Act, 2013 government of India made it mandatory for the Indian companies to invest 2% of their profits into CSR activities. In 2012-13 760 companies with profits exceeding Rs 5 crores spent Rs 33,688 million in CSR activities, but the required spending should have been Rs 45,154 million going by the 2% requirement. This provides a lot of opportunity to the NGOs to gain from the mandatory 2% on CSR rule. The break-up of the CSR activities shows that around 30% of the firms collaborate with non-profit organizations to carry out their CSR activities (Exhibit 5).

A survey of 14 companies has revealed that all of the companies invested in education sector as a part of their CSR activity while the same figures for healthcare and livelihood are 92.8% and 85.7% respectively. If we look at the United States, most of the private universities had been started as a part of CSR activity. This shows the impact that CSR activities can have in education sector. Companies in India spend on an average 25% of their CSR money on education.

TEACH FOR INDIA-ABOUT

Teach for India (TFI) views itself as a nationwide movement aimed at eliminating inequity in India’s education system. Based on the model of its partner, Teach for America, TFI recruits and places highly qualified young graduated and professionals as full time teachers in under resourced municipal and private schools. Fellows work to bridge the educational gaps that their students face, in the hopes of putting their students on a fundamentally different life path. Since its inception in 2009, TFI has worked with nearly 12,000 students in cities of Pune, Delhi and Mumbai through its robust fellowship program and theory of change. These early years have highlighted the TFI’s ability to consistently recruit talented teachers and leaders in enhancing the program’s impact on students’ outcome.

TFI’s model involves the following components:

- Recruitment of high quality graduates and young professionals.

- Intensive training and leadership development of Fellows

- Placement of the Fellows for two years as full-time teachers in low-income schools

- Development of partnerships to ensure that Fellows develop as leaders.

Measurement of short-term impact of student achievement and long-term development of Fellows as future leaders in the movement against education inequity in India.

In the short run, the program recruits India’s exceptional young professionals to work in English-medium public and low-income private and municipal schools that have a fee structure of less than Rs. 500 per month. The program provides resources, training and continuous support in the use of innovative teaching strategies to maximize effectiveness in the classroom. Fellows are paid monthly stipends to cover their personal expenses, and TFI has collaborated with corporations to provide paid sabbaticals to Fellows who are taking breaks from their careers. Fellows are each assigned a Program Manager (PM) who provides guidance and support throughout their experience. PMs are often former Fellows themselves, and can thus draw on experience to give fellow advice on effective teaching techniques and classroom management tips.

Upon completion of their two year Fellowship, TFI Alumni collaborate through the organization’s network regardless of the professional path they choose. In the long run, the program is intended to build a leadership force of professionals, who will be able to effect change in the educational system with the hope of guaranteeing equality of opportunity. TFI is currently in its third year of operation. From a cohort of 78 Fellows who joined in May 2009, the organization has recruited a total of 373 Fellows. TFI aims to achieve presence in 10 cities across the country, reaching 65,000 students by 2015. [pic 10]

Teach for India Fellows consist of Indian citizens and foreign citizens of Indian origin. Past Fellows have included Indian-origin residents from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. TFI's selection process is very selective and only 7.2 percent of the applicants made it into the program in 2013. They have come from top-notch institutions