Swati Nandy comes from a family in Kolkata that believes education is the key that can open doors to a better life. On completing her engineering degree from SRM University, Swati joined a top-notch IT company and got to interact with a few young people who did not have any formal education but had lots of bright ideas that could potentially set them on the path to becoming brilliant entrepreneurs. She realised that with the right training, these youth could achieve so much more. This was a moment of clarity for Swati, and she decided to work with underprivileged children in order to provide them with an excellent education through the Teach For India Fellowship programme.
Jai Mishra grew up in the small town of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a family that always put a premium on hard work and education. His father worked relentlessly to provide him with the right kind of education, and, through this, Jai learnt early the importance of education and the difference it could make to a child’s life. Having lived in an underprivileged community, he made the choice to join the Teach For India Fellowship and empower more children like himself so that they can rise to their potential.
Ground realityWhile both Swati and Jai were motivated by the compelling desire to make a difference to the problem of inequity in education in India, they were yet to face the ground reality of the classroom. Bolstered by their zeal and armed with the five-week residential training that Teach For India provided, Fellows often start with the idea that their path would be an easy one. Yet, every day brings forth a new challenge of its own.
According to the ASER Report, 48 per cent of grade V children can read a grade II text. 32 per cent of grade II children cannot recognise numbers and 50 per cent of grade V children cannot do basic subtraction. Inequitable access to good schools, inability of the system to ensure that children remain enrolled, unsuitable curriculum policies and incorrect pedagogy further add to the problem.
It is with this shocking realisation that the Fellows begin their journey. They quickly learn that this is not a passive one-way process, and that they will have to adapt themselves as well as their teaching methods to the children every day. They learn how to be resourceful and innovative to keep the children engaged and develop their own leadership potential in the process.
Children in under-resourced schools come from very challenging backgrounds, and the fact that they attend school despite the odds shows their determination and yearning to do better. As Anoop Parik, a Teach For India alumnus who believes in the power of empathy, says, “It’s just too easy to scold a child for consistent absenteeism — it’s a lot tougher to ask and understand why — that’s when being empathetic helps.”
One common strand that emerges from the experience of all the Fellows is that they believe in their students and show commitment to their progress. The two years they spend in the classroom marks the beginning of a lifelong mission to address the issues of inequities in education. Jai, for example, plans to open a school of his own so that other children do not face the hardships he underwent as a student.
Systemic changes are imperative to ensure that every child goes to school and receives an excellent education. India is a signatory to the UN Child Rights Convention which envisions that all young people should be encouraged to reach the highest level of education they are capable of. But it is the people and not the processes that cause the crisis. As a nation, we need a movement of leaders to collectively address this issue from the grass-roots level upwards. We need to equip our youth with the experience the ground reality throws up as well as the training and support to seek solutions and fuel the movement. Thirty per cent of our population today is below 14 years of age, with 12 million young adults joining the workforce every year. This is a huge demographic dividend that can be harvested only through a movement of citizens who would strive to redefine the education system in the country.
Imagine a million changemakers driving India forward. Imagine a day when we have succeeded in empowering every human being with choice and opportunity. That’s what every child deserves. That’s what India deserves.
The author is CEO, Teach for India. The nationwide movement has 1,100 Fellows across seven cities in India impacting 38,000 students. To know more about the Fellowship, visit http://www.teachforindia.org/
