Teach for India

Executive Summary:

Every child is born with the hope that god is not yet disappointed with man.
-Rabindranath Tagore

Social and cultural revolution has been possible only in a system where quality of educational opportunity is provided and education is deliberately used to develop more and more potential talent and to harness it to the solution of the national problem.
The 1986/92 education policy admits that education was at the crossroads and it needed to change the direction of where it was going. Neither normal expansion nor existing pace and nature of improvement can address the need of the situation. (Para 1.9).The Teach for India foundation is an initiative to alleviate this national ill of educational disparity by the Teach for India program.
This program would be a two year internship open to all Indian nationals who have had graduation level education. Apart from having an inclusive work culture involving NGO 's, corporate and the government, building prestige and credibility around the program would thus be central to achieving its objective. Teach for India is not meant to be a perfunctory exercise whose scope is limited to getting making people "literate". It is meant to involve the most talented youth in the country in an effort to usher in a wave of excellence in school education so that an entire generation is empowered to actualize its potential in the best possible way. But then, you have to be the best to attract the best. And this motto of excellence will be the driving force behind all its endeavors.

Case Analysis:

Scope of the project:

• Case Introduction

The dichotomy of Indian education has only deepened the divisive wedge which separates the have 's from the have not 's. Teach for India is an initiative to promote educational parity and in the process create thinking leaders. This movement has been successfully launched and implemented in the US and UK, but while implementing this program in India we must consider the peculiarities of the Indian education system, the social and economic realities.

• Issues at hand

In 2002 , the lower house of parliament ratified the 86th amendment in the constitution , adding article 21, giving all children ages 6 to 14 the right to free and compulsory education by the state. The amended law also placed an obligation on parents and guardians to provide educational opportunities to these children. But despite of policies and laws, the sad reality is that out of a primary school age population of approximately 203 million only 120 attends school.
In a situation of the type we have in India, it is the responsibility of the educational system to bring the different social classes and groups together and thus promote the emergence of an egalitarian and integrated society. Intra urban disparities are stark as far as the issue of the educational access is concerned. These children cannot make use of the alternative system of the education, which are in the form of private schools as there exists a ‘social distance ' between them and the other children.
The most relevant question in the provision of the education (early childhood, primary, upper primary and secondary) relates to overcoming supply side constraints.

Some of the problems pertaining to the first generation learners are:

• Gap between school and community becomes very large that translates into high dropout rate.
• Education does not lead to material gain on value addition.
• Poor schooling infrastructure
• Low motivation of teachers
• Disinterest in teachers has led to a declining faith of residents in the schooling system.

• Case Proposal

Teach India foundation would style itself as a coordinating agency and the focal point of action. It would actively work with the existing government initiatives to enhance their effectiveness. As specified earlier it would have three arms which would support its working. The NGO 's would be responsible for imparting training, sensitization of issues, and placing recruits in schools. The donor agencies would be the primary source of generating funds for the operational and management purposes. The corporate houses would be the supporting bodies that would either provide logistic or administrative or recruit the volunteers into their organizations.
A governing body comprising of members from these three arms and would actively evaluate and direct the activities the foundation takes up.

Strategic Analysis:

• SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
• major strength lies in its all inclusive approach
• focus program is clearly based upon "quality"
• The corporate backing and support
• top quality human resources Weaknesses:
• diversity and the barrier of regional languages
• inadequate infrastructure
• two years being a long career break
Opportunities:
• expertise to initiate such development program with success
• reiterate the relevance and importance of this program today
• developing a talent pool of future corporate and community leaders Threats:
• communication gap, in terms of language, infrastructure and coordination amongst participating bodies
• garnering the right support from public as well as the corporate houses to give this initiative the prestige and recognition

.

1. Analysis

The peculiarity and diversity in the education system in India needs a multipronged approach to tackle it. The program must thus address transdisciplinarity and relevance. And the vast expanse of geographical scope of work demands heterogeneity in the skills and customization needed to strike the right chord while implementing the program. Appropriate training thus needs to be charted for equipping the TFI volunteers. The foundation itself needs to ensure organizational diversity in management intact, which has been quoted as one of its strengths.
Also corporate presence accounts for greater social accountability; the foundation needs to establish transparent channels to address its needs.
Since the focus of the program is on quality education, a broad based system of quality control should be charted which is implemented across the entire gamut of work that the foundation does.

Solutions & Recommendations:

Implementation Blueprint:

Geographical Target Areas:

The pilot schemes will be launched in the metros or urban locations keeping in mind the infrastructure, communication and funding constraints. The pilot can also be initiated initially in semi rural locations which are close to regional centers of academic excellence, where it will be easy to channel our resources and expertise initially.
The scale of initiating the project will also be tempered by firstly the response we are able to generate for the program, the preferences of the volunteers and the funding that we raise.

Volunteer Profile:

The program will look to recruit the best scholars from the top graduate and post-graduate institutions in the country.
The basic skill sets to look for in the candidates would be leadership skills, the ability to adapt quickly and develop creative solutions, empathy and above all, the urge to make a difference in the lives of countless young children.

Compensation:

Beginning school teacher salaries in India compare very poorly with corporate salaries. The recruits, who would otherwise earn much more, would be hesitant to join the program to say the least. But offering differential salaries to the Teach for India personnel vis-à-vis regular teachers would breed jealousy and distrust. Hence innovative compensation packages need to be developed to attract talent into the program

Additional allowances like transport expenses and hardship allowances can be allowed. Deferring the payment schedule of educational loans of recent graduates, lowering interest rates for loan repayment and offering comprehensive health benefits would serve as valuable incentives.

Training and support:

The training methodology would include:
• 5 weeks intensive training, workshops can be arranged every 6 months for candidates to brainstorm, share ideas and get trained, on subjects like psychology etc.
• Monitoring these people, an informal appraisal system, based on two way feedback system.
• An industry-recognized certification system.

Career alternatives:

During the course of two years, the participants are expected to develop leadership skills, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a commitment to social justice which are valuable corporate assets. Hence they are likely to be sought after by their recruiters of choice, particularly those supporting the Teach for India initiative.
The participants can also be offered career advisory and placement services at the end of the term.

Governance:

There will be one governing body in each state comprising of educationists, teachers from regional centers of excellence as well as representatives from the participating corporate houses, the NGOs and the donor agencies. This body will be responsible for

• Collaborating with the local governments to assess the specific needs of the state and its different sectors and customize the program accordingly.
• Preparing need report for the state in terms of funding, personnel and technical support.
• Conducting training for the recruits.
• Allocation of funds and human resources within the state.
• Identifying zones where the program is effective and replicating the model in other areas, in other words.

There will be a central team consisting of members of the planning commission, representatives, eminent educationists, representatives from the participating corporate houses, the NGOs and the donor agencies.

The function of the central team would be to :

• Fund allocation – all the funding for the program would be routed through the central agency.
• Shuffling of personnel between states.
• Experience sharing across states
• Identifying the emerging best practices in the field on a regular basis and updating instructional plans.
• Corporate and international liaison.

Impact Study:

An intra-organization research group would be set up that would conduct studies to analyze the impact of the program.
Independent social auditors would also be employed at regular intervals to assess the difference brought about by the program.

Monitoring:

Unlike other sectors such as banking, power or telecom, where regulatory authorities have been set up, social sector (whether it is education, health or employment guarantee) regulation and monitoring at the central level is neither possible nor sufficient. Hence bulk of the monitoring activity will take place at the regional level.

Scalability:

The model of implementation will be charted in a fashion such that it is scalable for future operations. International interns of Indian origins can be made a part of this program and can be extended as a foreign arm of this initiative, to be marketed as Build India initiative.

References:

• Journal : Social welfare published by Central Social Welfare Board
• Journal : Social Change published by Council for Social Development
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12206029/site/newsweek/page/1-5/
• http://www.indianngos.com/a/azimpremjifoundation/interview.htm
• www.teachforamerica.org
• http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/teach.pdf

References: • Journal : Social welfare published by Central Social Welfare Board • Journal : Social Change published by Council for Social Development • http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12206029/site/newsweek/page/1-5/ • http://www.indianngos.com/a/azimpremjifoundation/interview.htm • www.teachforamerica.org • http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/teach.pdf