Introduction

In its endeavour to reach out and impart Spoken English skills to a larger population belonging to the underserved section of the society and realizing the potential of the student community belonging to the privileged section to be the agents of change in the society, the Times Group, in May 2013, initiated the Teach India – School Chapter. The Chapter, on one hand, aims to enhance the competency and confidence of the school Non-Teaching staff by honing their Spoken English skills; and on the other, it strives to promote the spirit of volunteerism among the privileged school-going youth of the country.
The School Chapter up till now has successfully implemented the Pilot, First and the Second cycle and will begin with the third cycle soon.
The Programme has been executed in over 40 schools across Delhi/NCR and has seen a tremendous response from more than 500 student volunteers.
The students at a young age assumed the teacher’s role to increase the confidence and competency of the non-teaching staff members of their school by helping them enhance their spoken English skills. Others involved in the Community Mobilization, made an impact on the lives of many under-privileged youth through their energetic and persuasive interactions. The SVs’ interactions encouraged the target learners from the community to come forth, enroll themselves for the regular Teach India initiative and embark upon their journey towards a better future. The SVs involved in the Outreach segment, used their creativity to showcase the cause and encourage volunteerism among the empowered section of the society.

Spoken English Classes

Under this activity, the Student Volunteers will undergo a 7-day training conducted by the British Council trained trainers. They will then teach spoken English to the non-teaching staff of their respective school.

For the activity, 4 students per school will be selected, and each Student Volunteer will take a 90 minutes class per day, every alternate day, for one month. The classes, that will commence soon after the Student Volunteer Training, will be conducted over a period of 2 months in the respective school premises. Each batch would ideally comprise of 20-25 learners (non-teaching staff).

Community Mobilization

Another important aspect of Teach India School Chapter is Community mobilization. The objective of the activity is to provide the student volunteers a hands-on experience on the grassroot-level implementation of the Teach India Programme. This will be achieved by sensitizing them towards the issues prevalent in the underserved sections of the society and understand their aspirations through interactions with the regular Teach India learners in the community.
During the field visits, the SVs will also mobilize the underserved youth to join the regular Teach India Programme in order to improve their employability.

Outreach

Under this activity, the SVs will employ their artistic and creative skills to showcase the Teach India initiative and its impact through various media, both online and offline.

The Student Volunteers would be working on online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and using offline tools such as media collaterals to reach out to the target audience – both potential volunteers and learners for the Teach India initiative.

Partner Schools