6 inspiring Teach For India Fellows show that it’s never too late to make an impact

Every year, a new set of Teach For India Fellows from different walks of life sets foot into under-resourced classrooms with a vision to alleviate disparity in educational opportunities across India. For two years, they teach and foster young minds, transforming them into potential future leaders, as well as witnessing significant transformation within themselves.

The diversity in Teach For India Fellows’ backgrounds creates unique avenues for students to understand first-hand what an excellent education entails. While most Fellows pursue the Fellowship straight out of university, some embark on the journey at a much later stage in their lives by harnessing their previous years of leadership experience within their careers at top corporates.

These six Teach For India Fellow stories exemplify that it is never too late to begin creating social impact and driving sustainable change in the world, no matter what stage of life you are at.

Nimita Raut, 2018 Fellow, Mumbai

Varsha Nagar School, MPS

A Metallurgical Engineer with a gold medal in BTech, Nimita started as a lecturer at L&T Institute of Technology in 1992. The lack of zeal some of her students in the institution exhibited, despite their access to best opportunities, disappointed Nimita.

She increasingly observed the contrast of opportunities students from high-income backgrounds received viz a viz the students from low-income backgrounds. “I was talking to my student in college, and he told me he wasn’t interested in studying or becoming an engineer. Some receive numerous opportunities and an excellent education, yet they fail to value it. I realised that I need to give opportunities to those in dire need of it,” said Nimita.

This led Nimita to apply for the Teach for India Fellowship in 2017, respectfully departing L&T Institute as the Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering. Nimita was strongly supported in this decision by her family and ex-students whose lives she had changed.

Nimita passionately strives to shape her Class IX and X students into independent decision makers and wants them to assimilate well in top colleges in Mumbai. She aims to improve the quality of teaching through teacher training after her Fellowship ends by sharing vital lesson plans, content, and learning material.

Arvind Kumar, 2017 Fellow, Hyderabad

Apricot High School

Arvind is an MBA and a former Senior Manager at Sansera Engineering in Bangalore, whose role extensively involved training employees throughout his career. Over the years, his training and articulation skills impressed many, but when Arvind’s son told him that he taught Math better than teachers at his school, it struck a chord with Arvind and opened his eyes to the shortcomings of the education sector.

Arvind decided to quit his job in 2016 and applied for the Teach For India Fellowship, which he hopes will catapult him to bring sustainable change to the system. Upon noticing that Class VI students could not comfortably read a Class II passage, he realised the lack of quality education in teaching comprehension abilities.

“I want to build a strong base for the Fifth and Sixth graders and want them to be fearless in asking questions,” said Arvind, expressing his desire to contribute to setting up a curriculum which strengthens the foundations of students for future grades. “I felt the happiness I can’t even express when one of my students told me that he wants to be a teacher like me one day [sic],” says Arvind, calling the Fellowship an extremely rewarding experience.

Shekhar Hariharan, 2017 Fellow, Bangalore

GHPL Primary School

Shekhar is a Computer Engineer with two MBAs, and retired from one of the top IT companies, IQVIA, as their Director in 2016 to become a Teach For India Fellow, enabling him to pursue his lifelong dream to be a social entrepreneur. Inclined to pursuing social work throughout his successful 20-year career, Shekhar would regularly donate and volunteer for organisations until he realised he “wanted to do more than writing cheques and volunteering”.

“My father was a self-made man – I saw the wonders education did for him. I witnessed the difference that an excellent education brought in my daughter and how it developed her so differently compared to my maid’s daughter, who is the exact same age,” said Shekhar.

Shekhar aspires to mould his Teach For India students into “self-learners” and independent thinkers. Shekhar’s ambition is to start an NGO which intervenes at the family level, encouraging an atmosphere that promotes education for a deeper and more sustained impact on alleviating educational disparity. The Teach For India Fellowship is the first step for Shekhar on his way to being a long-term change-maker in the education sector in India.

Mukul Gulati, 2017 Fellow, Delhi

Sarvodaya Co-Ed Senior Secondary School

Mukul successfully culminated his 20-year corporate stint in 2017, where he worked alongside many clients in the development sector as the Senior Manager at KPMG. Having studied in a government school himself from Class IX-XII, Mukul reflected on the difficulties he faced, which led him to get in touch with Teach For India Fellows to know more about the movement.

Upon working with clients from the development sector, Mukul observed a gap which he stepped up to fill, and shared, “Although people are ready to fund, few are ready to get on-ground and make an impact. This urged me to take up the Teach For India Fellowship in 2017.”

As time passed, he realised that the need of the hour was to give his students vital exposure to improve their comprehensive and reflective skills. His ambition is to continue work in the development sector, contributing to education going forward. Inspired by this, his son proudly told him, “Seeing how happy you are doing what you love, I won’t wait 20 years to do what I love.”

Sharebanu Jariwala, 2017 Fellow, Ahmedabad

Danilimda Public School

Sharebanu completed her MCom in Ahmedabad and went on to get substantial teaching experience at top schools in Jeddah and Hyderabad, and came back to Ahmedabad in 2015 with her children. Initially apprehensive about her children’s enrollment in a Teach For India school, Sharebanu was eventually delighted by the exceptional growth her children exhibited with the support of Fellows.

Motivated by the investment and dedication of the Fellows, Sharebanu decided to join the Fellowship in 2017, which titillated her children, in good humour, to take a “mock interview to see if she was fit to be a teacher”.

Interactions with her students led Sharebanu to undertake the monumental task of building a library in her school to imbibe the habit of reading and lifelong learning in her students.

The Teach For India Fellowship encouraged Sharebanu to do things she never did before, like developing the habit of reading and even dancing for the first time at the Fellow Durbar.

“I aim to work towards the development of children below the age of five, as I believe that is the optimal stage where students absorb the most and can be moulded easily,” shares Sharebanu about her plans after the Fellowship.

Colonel Rajendra Prasad Pande, 2014 Fellow, Pune

Ideal English Medium School

After valiantly serving in the Indian army for more than 33 years, Colonel Pande retired in 2012. Having served in Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, among many other Indian states, Colonel Pande was proactively involved in community upliftment efforts in his multiple postings around the country. His zeal for community engagement led him to undertake the Teach For India Fellowship in 2014.

“I was so inspired by the Fellows who left amazing jobs to dedicate their efforts to the empowerment of these children,” shared Colonel Pande, motivated by the zest of the Fellows around him urging him to join the Fellowship. “During my Fellowship, I wanted to mould my students into good and responsible Indians. We would always discuss positive news and achievements of our country. This practice made them take pride in their country and its army’s endeavours.”

His everlasting desire to provide an excellent education propelled him to continue teaching at the same school till 2018, while still being actively involved in other community work.

Esmail Bagasrawala is part of the Communications Team at Teach For India.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)