Teach India

Teach India is a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative by Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd. The main objective of the program is to improve employability of youth from underprivileged background by training them in spoken English. The concept of volunteerism is of prime importance of this initiative as it involves volunteers to execute the program on ground. This program integrates motivated volunteers, noteworthy NGOs and enthusiastic learners. The Times Group also attempts to build a bridge between the learners and the potential employers.Teach India is currently operational in NCR and Mumbai.

Vision

Teach India’s ultimate aim is to bring about a lasting change in the social fabric about enabling youth for better employment prospects. Improved state in the employability quotient of young individuals that belong to underprivileged backgrounds is the driving force behind Teach India that allows social upliftment of not only one person, but the entire family of the individual who reap the benefits. Alongside, the positive ghanta change in the weaker sections of society, Teach India also aspires to volunteerism amongst the people in society.

Journey so far

Delhi Chapter

Teach India was launched in 2010 and the pilot course was run in Delhi in 17 NGO classrooms in August 2010 and was completed in October 2010. The pilot was preceded by months of groundwork by The Times Group and British Council to understand the existing level of learner target segment, teaching capacity of potential volunteers and requirement of potential employers.

Following this, Teach India launched its first cycle in November 2010 in Delhi. So far, 4 cycles have been successfully completed in NCR, benefitting more than 6000 learners. Teach India is currently running its fourth cycle.

Mumbai Chapter

The working model of Teach India Delhi was replicated in Mumbai in May 2010. Following this, it launched the second cycle in December. Currently it is on its third cycle.

Curriculum

The curriculum employed by Teach India has a learner-focused approach, with the teacher acting as a facilitator rather than a dispenser of knowledge. The British Council designed a 120 hour spoken English curriculum which is taught over a period of 100 days, with two hour session each day. Collaborative learning methodologies have been extensively used and the assignments in the curriculum are based on examples from relevant industries like retail, financial services, hospitality thus this makes the learners instantly "job ready" on completion of the course.

Two additional modules were added eventually to address feedback from the learners and volunteer-teachers. One of the course is a prologue to the course. The other focuses on soft skills such as the correct body language, importance of manners along with interview skills which better equip the learners in facing an interview and performing in the corporate world thereafter as well.

Three Pillars of Teach India

The British council

Teach India brought the The British Council on board to design the curriculum. Besides the learner course, the British Council also designed the teacher training course to train the volunteer-teachers in the required pedagogical techniques to conduct modern learner-centered English classes. They are actively involved in monitoring the program impact as well.

NGO’s

The initiative is implemented on the ground by partner NGOs, mostly working in underdeveloped urban sections.These partner NGOs have been carefully selected and the Times Group supports them on multiple fronts including training and not just financially. These partner NGOs are responsible for organizing the spoken English classes, getting the learners in the classrooms, and managing the day-to-day affairs.

List of NGO Partners-

Volunteer

The program is delivered on-ground by committed volunteers.Everything would be incongruous without the dedication of these volunteer. More than hundred volunteers are selected each cycle from the list of applicants and an NGO teaching batch is alloted to them.An involvement of three days a week for a 100 day period is the time required from a Teach India volunteer. The Times Group also conducts several refresher trainings during the cycle to ensure the right implementation of the curriculum. So far more than 650 volunteers have been involved in this initiative.

Everything is centered around the Learner

The average learner is between 18 to 32 years and has a monthly family income of under 10,000 rupees(approximately). He/ she has had a basic introduction to english but has never used it in daily life or in or out of the classroom The course seeks to improve the employability for the learner who is enrolled in the program. The team facilitates suitable employment opportunities for the learner after the completion of the course through holding job fairs.

Special initiatives by Teach India

Tihar Jail

Teach India had done a pilot course for inmates of the Tihar jail, Delhi. The candidates were shortlisted on the basis of their prison release dates which facilitated prison placements after the completion of the course. Upon success of the program, the initiative was also extended to selected Delhi Jail staff.

Industrial Training Institute

Teach India also ran a pilot with govt.-run Industrial Training Institute in March, 2012. ITI, under Directorate of Training and Technical Education, is one of the primary institutions working on skilling and vocational education.Approximately 100 students completed the pilot.

Delhi Police

•Police HQ- Teach India is involved in training Delhi police personals, specially for those manning Helpline and control room calls and training the constables (100 helpline) in functional spoken English. Subsequently the police control room team got an opportunity to provide effective help and support services by improving the communication with its callers.

•Police Training College- After the success of the pilot at the Police HQ, Teach India also trained 419 Probationary Sub Inspectors for Delhi Police in police training college, Delhi. It is now a mandatory part of the PSI’s course at PTC.

Teach India’s impact

•Teach India has trained more than 9000 learners in Spoken English since 2010.

•The last year Teach India saw learners performing excellently in the job fairs - with almost 65% candidates offered job offers, through the fairs.

•Over 650 volunteers have taught the spoken english curriculum in the NGOs in Mumbai and Delhi.

Interesting Fact

Originally launched in 2008, Teach India soon grew into a national movement, reaching out to lakhs of volunteers and hundreds of NGOs. Its impact was hard to measure and track. The Times Group took a pause to rethink which followed the setting up of new guidelines. Teach India rebooted, re prioritized and sharpened its focus to teaching English for the main reason of making the youth job ready and subsequently a new Teach India emerged.