Teach For India - Views On TFI Model

Views On TFI Model

The TFI model is new to India. But in the case of older sister programs of TFI such as Teach for America, some people have questioned whether all Fellows come with the same level of commitment to the cause. Wendy Kopp, CEO of Teach for All and the founder of Teach for America, dismissed this suggestion saying "this is the toughest way to boost a resume". TFI itself asserts that its process of selection ensures that only those with idealism and a commitment to the cause make it through.

A key challenge for TFI appears to be the education policies in India. India does not have the equivalent of the "No Child Left Behind" policy enacted in the US under the Bush administration. The Government of India has now started paying attention to this issue. On the occasion of India's Teacher's Day on September 5, 2012, the President of India Pranab Mukherjee said that "“Qualified and competent teachers, continuously renewing their capabilities and excellence through research, experimentation and innovation would be the nation's strength". The government is now planning to launch a National Mission on Teachers and Training.

Unlike in some other countries where the Teach for All movement works, the Fellows at Teach for India are not paid by the government or the school they work in. Instead, TFI itself raises the funds to pay the Fellows. This could have been a challenge to the scalability of the concept but the organization has received sound backing from charitable foundations like Reliance Foundation and corporates like JP Morgan till date.

Teach for India has been endorsed by a number of Indian celebrities in recent years such as Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Rahul Bose, bestselling novelist Chetan Bhagat and philanthropist Nita Ambani.