When and how can I apply to the Teach For India Fellowship?

The deadlines for our 2011 Fellowship are 10 October, 2010, 28 November, 2010, and 9 January, 2011. Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis so qualified early applicants will have the best chance of gaining admission and are also more likely to get their preferred training period and placement city. The selection process includes the online application, a phone interview, and then an in-person assessment center, and applicants will hear back 4-6 weeks after the application deadline.

Why should I join Teach For India?

Teach For India offers you the chance to make a real difference in tackling one of India's most pressing challenges – educational inequity.  By presenting you with one of the most difficult challenges of your life, the Fellowship helps you develop leadership skills that will make you a high-demand candidate for any career.  You will leave the Fellowship literally ready for anything – and with the experience to advocate for a future in which all children have access to an excellent education.

Who are we looking for?

Teach For India is looking for Fellows who have exhibited academic excellence, have demonstrated leadership, and are inclined to make a commitment to the community. Students in their final year of under-graduate or post-graduate studies and young professionals are eligible to apply.

What does the Teach For India Fellowship entail?

The Teach For India Fellowship is a two-year paid assignment during which Fellows are placed as full-time class teachers in low-income schools. Throughout the Fellowship, Teach For India Fellows help close the achievement gap by leading their students to significant academic gains. In the second year of their fellowship, Fellows implement a school-wide project to address one major obstacle to learning in their community.

Why does the Fellowship last two years? Can I teach for just one year if I choose?

All Fellows must commit to teach full-time for two years in low-income schools. The two-year commitment is necessary to make the impact we wish to have on student achievement. In the first year, Fellows will refine their teaching skills and will start to establish respect and trust among various stakeholders within the school community. This work will allow Fellows to achieve significant academic gains for students and to implement their community/school project in the second year. Furthermore, Teach For India is looking for leaders who are willing to commit to long-term change and who have the perseverance to work hard in challenging situations.  In this context, the two-year commitment is but a small step towards long-term reform.

How does Teach For India’s approach to teaching differ from traditional approaches?

Teach For India’s “Teaching As Leadership” (TAL) model is based on the belief that excellent teachers employ the same skills as excellent leaders in any field. The TAL model requires teachers to plan purposefully, execute effectively, work relentlessly and reflect continuously in order to push students to significant academic gains. Through the TAL model, Fellows become extraordinary leaders who can help their students make significant academic gains in the short run and advocate for systemic educational reform in the long run.

Which standard will I be teaching and what will be the medium of instruction?

Teach For India Fellows are placed in 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th standard classrooms where they teach all major subjects — including mathematics, reading, history and science — with the exception of regional languages.   English is the medium of instruction in all Teach For India schools and Fellows are not expected to know their students’ mother tongue.

Where will I be teaching?

In 2011, Teach For India Fellows will be placed in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. All Fellows will be required to reside in either of these cities between May/June 2011 and April 2013. If you are unable to do so, please note that we will expand into different cities in the upcoming years, and hope to be in eight cities and their surrounding rural areas within five years.

Will I be trained adequately before I start teaching?

Teach For India will work relentlessly to ensure that all Fellows have the knowledge and skills necessary to lead their students towards achievement. Teach For India’s five-week Institute in May or June of 2011 helps Fellows understand curriculum, create long-term and lesson plans, present content to students in a clear and engaging way, facilitate student practice and assess student progress, among other keys to teaching success.  Additionally, each Fellow will have a mentor whose primary responsibility is to guide Fellows to become effective teachers and leaders.

How much will I be paid during the Fellowship?

Teach For India Fellows will be paid a stipend of Rs. 15,000 per month and will be given a housing allowance (dependent on the city in which they will stay) along with an allowance for school supplies.

Are scholarships available to supplement the stipend?

Teach For India is keen that financial need is not a barrier to matriculation for qualified applicants.  Please check our website for more details and e-mail apply@teachforindia.org if you have questions.

How will the Teach For India experience help me grow professionally?

Teach For India strongly believes that excellent teachers employ the same skills as excellent leaders in any field, and that spending two years in the classroom will help Fellows develop leadership skills, such as organization, communication and resourcefulness, that are valuable in any sector. Teach For India will select Fellows who have demonstrated excellence in the past and will work with them throughout the two-year Fellowship to ensure that they take advantage of the experience to become extraordinary future leaders.

What options will be open to me after the Fellowship?

As the experience of Teach For America alumni shows, Teach For India alumni will be in high demand in any sector because they have the experience of overcoming immense challenges and have developed widely applicable leadership skills.  Alumni may choose to remain in the education sector as teachers, principals, or NGO leaders, enroll in post-graduate schools, work in the corporate sector or pursue literally any path they wish.  Teach For India alumni staff maintains relationships with top universities, NGOs, and corporates throughout the country, and helps Fellows connect with these opportunities after the Fellowship.  Teach For India has already established close ties with Harvard Business School, IIM Bangalore, HDFC, Godrej Industries, the Indian School of Business, McKinsey & Company, Tata Consultancy Services, Columbia Law School, Accenture and the Thermax Group, among many others.

If I can't apply to the Fellowship now, can I apply at a later date?

Teach For India will accept applications for the Fellowship every year. In 2011, Teach For India Fellows will be placed in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. In the next five years, we will expand to all major metropolitan cities and their surrounding rural districts and will place increasing numbers of Fellows in low-income schools in these areas.

Other questions? Email your query to apply@teachforindia.org
If you have technical questions while filling out the online application, please email support@teachforindia.org