From June, primary students of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s English medium schools will have corporates, undergraduate and post-graduate students taking classes for them. Around 60 of them will work for two years as part of the national programme, Teach for India (TFI), which is also being implemented in Mumbai.

The “fellows,” who would be final year students of any undergraduate or postgraduate discipline, will either function as class teachers or concentrate only on English, mathematics and science, according to need basis, said Anu Aga, director, TFI and former executive chairperson of Thermax Group.

The idea is to involve the best of working professionals and students in this programme. “The fellows are expected to be not just bright, dedicated, humble but, most importantly, have the right teaching attitude,” Aga said. In order to ensure this, applicants for TFI will go through a recruitment process of group discussion and personal interview. Each will be paid Rs 15,000 per month. One mentor for every 10 fellows will overlook their work as well as build the necessary skill in fellows. Mentors will also visit classrooms and meet fellows to provide constant feedback.

During the second year of the programme, fellows will implement a project that will enhance the school facilities for students. “For instance, if a school does not have enough toilets or has water scarcity, they will try to mobilise funds for the same and ensure that the problem is eliminated,” Aga said.

There are 23 English medium schools run by PMC. Civic school board chairman Mahesh Ladkat said the PMC shall forward a list of schools that need English, maths and science teachers on priority basis to TFI. “PMC will also independently review the work of TFI fellows after one year and send their suggestions to TFI,” he said.

A similar programme will be implemented in Mumbai with about 50 fellows working in low-income group English medium schools, which will be further extended to other metropolitan cities. In the short run, TFI aims to have a source of teachers who will work to expand the educational opportunities to hundreds of other underprivileged children, while in the long run, TFI will build a powerful alumni who will use their experiences to make fundamental changes to ensure equal educational opportunity for all.

TFI was launched in 2008 after a group of leaders working to reform education met chief executive officer and founder of Teach for America Wendy Kopp. The blueprint for TFI was drafted by McKinsey and Company. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Rockdale Foundation have provided financial support to Teach For India while Godrej, Confederation of Indian Industries, Monitor Group, Zensar Technologies, HDFC and Citigroup are the partners.