The Teach For India campaign has got rolling and the country is watching the young professionals-turned teachers striving to make a difference

Twenty-five-year-old Deeepanshu Gupta never nurtured the ambition of being a teacher. Yet today, when he takes lessons of fourth graders in the city, it’s a makeover after quitting a corporate job of four years and coming to town all the way from Delhi.

The face of the nationwide movement that has picked up significant momentum, Gupta is one of the 87 graduates and young professionals imparting education through the much-advertised programme of Teach for India.

Churning out its first batch of full-time teachers for the next two years, from 33 low-income, English medium primary schools in Mumbai and Pune, for these new teachers, the country is watching. “It was a big decision for me but the problem is huge and being part of such a noble cause has given me a lot of satisfaction in life. My children are brilliant and I am preparing some of them for scholarship exams as well. There are multiple problems in our country and education is the strongest weapon to tackle them with,” adds Gupta, who teaches at the Nikos Primary School in Kondhwa.

Trained at Symbiosis Institute and Flame University , the fellows also had interactions with Hillary Clinton, Aamir Khan and Nandita Das, among others and also have regular training sessions post classes. For Aparna Achuthan, it was going back to school from college. A fresh graduate in Political Science, she is now teaching the Std II students of Juhu Gandhi Gram (MPS). “I am having such a good time teaching them; in fact, the questions they pose and the enthusiasm they display makes me a better teacher. Social work is a broad spectrum and one can contribute in numerous ways. I chose this one because in a world that is so driven by sensationalising, to be a good citizen and choose between right and wrong, it is education that comes foremost. Moreover, the whole process of this campaign is impeccably organised," says the 21-year-old from Mumbai, who had also volunteered earlier in her college.

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