The Journey
In pursuit of educational equity
Over the last 13 years, we’ve set up a Fellowship that has proven impact for accelerating both Student learning and Fellow leadership development. Our 3800+ Alumni who have completed the Fellowship serve at all levels of the educational ecosystem, from leading change in classrooms to leading change in policy. Currently, 970 Fellows, 32000 Students, 270 under-resourced schools, 9100 Student Alumni.
We have built a national focus on repairing India’s educational crisis through our Innovation Cells. Through social and print media- we have garnered the support of thousands of people, all of whom are invested in the vision of an excellent education for all children.
Teach For India in 13 years
The Inception
17 years after starting the Akanksha Foundation, Shaheen felt compelled to address the issue of educational inequity at scale. As she thought through the solution, she believed that the answer lay in a people’s movement that needed to come together to provide every child in India an excellent education.
The Founding
Shaheen met with Wendy Kopp, the Founder of Teach For America and was struck by the idea of leadership being at the core of the solution. Seeking to adapt the Teach For America model to the Indian context, we engaged with a number of stakeholders within the government, at academic institutions and at corporations and were encouraged by the favourable response we received. After a 12 week Study in collaboration with McKinsey & Company- a plan to place the first cohort of Teach For India was made.
Beginning in Mumbai & Pune with the First Cohort
Teach For India welcomed its first cohort, the Class of 2009, to the Fellowship. The 87 “niners” in Mumbai and Pune- our two cities of operation, formed the beginning of what Shaheen hoped would become a nationwide movement of diverse leaders.
The Beginning of the Alumni Movement
Our Niners graduated from the Fellowship and became the first cohort in our Alumni movement. Through their work as Alumni, the hope was that they would become lifelong leaders for equity. Our first cohort of Alumni went into teaching, teacher training, school leadership, and government policy. We also began expanding from just two cities of operation to 7 cities across India.
Beginning in Chennai and Hyderabad
Teach For India Chennai and Hyderabad are launched as sites of operations.
inspirED hosted its first series of conferences in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.
This was an annual, world-class education conference, organized by Teach For India. The conference brought together educators and leaders to engage in a dialogue on the challenges of equity in education and its solutions. In 2014, it saw 400 participants, 85 organisations and over 30 speakers, with Arvind Kejriwal, the CM of Delhi as the keynote speaker.
The Broadway Musical, Maya
A partnership between Teach For India Students and Artists on Broadway took 30 children on a life-changing journey of self-discovery and of finding their values and their brightest light. It culminated in a spectacular Broadway Musical with a full house and standing ovations for 11 shows.
Beginning in Ahmedabad
Teach For India Ahmedabad began as a site of operations. We published a book on our five year journey and genesis called- Redrawing India.
Beginning in Bengaluru
Teach For India Bengaluru began as a site of operations.
InnovatED identified it’s first cohort of 12 Entrepreneurs.
InnovatED, a nationwide incubator program for early-stage educational entrepreneurs from the Teach For India network, identified it’s first cohort of 12 Entrepreneurs.
Firki was launched.
Firki was launched as India’s first and only online teacher training portal: a world-class, open-source, blended learning program for teachers across India to use and transform their teaching methods. The Firki Mobile App went live in May, 2018.
TFIx graduated its first cohort.
TFIx, a year long incubator program for passionate entrepreneurs who are willing to adapt Teach For India’s model to their context and region- graduated its first cohort.
National Summit of the Kids Education Revolution
Teach For India hosted the very first National Summit of the Kids Education Revolution, in Mumbai at the American School, Bombay.
Teach For India launched Grey Sunshine
A book on its 10 year journey, alongside a grand stage musical- ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ where Students depicted their struggles in the education system through the metaphor of a circus. The show was staged across Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi.
Don't stop learning
Since COVID-19 devastated the world in March 2020, our community has worked to support each other emotionally and mentally as much as possible. Through our #Don'tStopLearning campaign we raised funds to procure gadgets for our children. We also ran a crowdfunding campaign to ensure our communities have access to essentials.
Setting children up for a different life path
Academic Impact
Math
Our Students are learning to recall and apply knowledge and skills appropriate to their level. This has led to a 36% grade-level mastery of Math at the end of the year versus 20% at the beginning of the year in 2018-19.
Reading Comprehension
On average, Teach For India Students showed a 0.6 year of growth in their reading level in 2018-19, which means they have achieved a higher level of their reading ability. This is especially important as many of them are below grade level at the time of Teach For India's intervention, and our Fellows have to accelerate their learning in order for them to be at par with peers from the same grade.
Values and Mindset
We believe that an excellent education is a balance of academics and character development through strengthening values and mindsets. Our Students are passionate and joyful, and can evaluate and create challenging content. They are able to independently demonstrate class values, both in and out of class, and are able to leverage opportunities in the community and world around them.
Access and Exposure
Each year, our Students participate in activities like Model United Nations, and have also participated and been awarded at various Olympiads and other competitions. They participate in extracurricular fests, do slam poetry, and go on residential leadership camps. Many of them even take part in nationwide sporting events in sports like Football, Ultimate Frisbee and Athletics.
As leaders, they have facilitated Teach For All educational conferences. They have also led Design For Change conferences in Rome. In fact, Teach For India Students have consistently reached the top ten list of global Design For Change projects. Many of them have founded their own projects/organisations for change as part of the Kids Education Revolution programme, liaising directly with policymakers and educators.
Stories of Change
Rehan and Basit, leading change for their community
Rehan and Basit- two young boys aged 12, living in a community on the site of Ahmedabad’s largest dumping ground. They’ve scaled the mountain of garbage, collected toxic samples, sent them to the press, got published, and lobbied the government alongside members of the community. Their efforts have even taken them to lead sessions at the global Design for Change summit in Rome.
Fuelling Systemic change
Fuelled by their learning and dedication to the mission during the Fellowship, our Fellows join our Alumni community, driving long term systemic change towards educational equity. Nearly 67 percent of our Alumni are working in positions of influence across sectors in the education ecosystem: in schools, nonprofits, corporations, and within national and local government bodies. Since 2015, Teach For India Fellows and Alumni have consistently ranked amongst the top 10 teachers who participate in the CENTA Teaching Olympiad across India. More than 20% of our Alumni work in the Private Sector and over 150 Alumni have completed advanced degrees in public policy, business and social entrepreneurship at the most selective and prestigious global institutions.