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Additi Seth

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Teach for India was started in 2009 by Ms. Shaheen Mistri, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the organization, taking ideas from Teach For America, a similar organization operating in USA. The organization believes in achieving educational equity for all the children across the length and breadth of our country. And they also aim to bridge the gap between various schools.  Starting from Bombay and Pune it has now spread its roots to Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.

They recruit graduates and young professionals to teach in the Low Income Schools – both government and private. These young volunteers are required to work full time and for a minimum of two years. They are also given separate classrooms to teach.

Their work includes connecting to different communities as the children come from various backgrounds. Those from the low income groups also include the slum dwellers and labourers, etc. In their second year of work, the volunteers have to identify community-related issues, such as cleanliness, and work on them, along with the teaching.

Elisha Patel, who is a graduate from St. Stephens, works with the organization currently. On asking him about his experience so far, he says, “It is a very unique experience. Although there is minimal training, the progress is fantastic. There is a lot of hard work that goes into it, apart from the planning and the time spent on it. But the outcome is always satisfying.” Elisha is teaching in an MCD School where the children are provided with free education. The school is located in Majnu Ka Tilla which is at a walking distance from Delhi University North Campus. The children attending this school are those of labourers, cycle-rickshaw pullers, pani puri walas, road side vendors, etc.

One of the major upcoming events of the organization, Redraw India, is being held from January 12 (South Campus) to 13 (Arts Faculty, North Campus) in various Delhi University colleges. The event is basically for spreading awareness about the need for providing education across all borders and communities. The event also has competitions and many other things lined up. Some of these are: Tweet for education, Photo Competition and Gallery, Live photos, March Against Educational Inequity and others.

 

Continue watching this space for photo coverage from Redraw India.

Shreysi Mehndiratta, who has scored 98%, stood second in SRCC. “I was just not expecting these marks. Although the exams went well, no one expects to get in 90s, not in Economic Honours at least.” She added, “I can’t really say if DU is doing this just to prove that the semester system is any good because I’m not sure if the result has been the same for all the courses.” On asking her how she changed her mind from engineering to Economic (Honours) even after having science without Economics in school, she said, “I always had an interest in the subject (Economics) and I got the marks to get into the best college for the course.”   Rachit Dua, one of the students who scored 99%, is studying in SRCC. When asked about the result he said, “I was expecting somewhere around 95%, but definitely not a 99%. The paper’s difficulty level was quite normal. It wasn’t very difficult and it wasn’t even easy.” On asking whether he thinks it has been done to vindicate the efficacy of the semester system, he said, “Well, It can be. You never know.” Gaganpreet Kaur Chadha of SRCC who also scored 99% said, “I was expecting somewhere around 85% as that is the highest anyone expects in Economic Honours, from what I’ve heard. The 99% was quite a surprise really.” When asked further about the unusual result she said, “I think the checking must have been very lenient as there are so many who have scored well. And the papers were also quite easy. So I too feel that this has been done by DU in order to show that changing to the semester system was the right thing to do.” Milan Bindal of Hindu College is the third top scorer. She said, “Was I expecting this result? No! In previous years, the top scores had gone up to 90. I was aiming for a 92. My only objective was to secure first rank in the University. To be honest, the result is a little shocking. Although I do think students have been rewarded this time for their efforts; moderating doesn’t mean you deduct marks that students deserve in the first place. There was tremendous pressure on us from day 1 and I think that has helped our result. I couldn’t get through SRCC by one mark and I’m glad I joined Hindu College. The faculty has done a great job in giving us a lot of extra time apart from the college hours. The exams were easy and I don’t think we’’ll have such scores in the coming semesters. Also social networks like Facebook don’t fascinate me and I guess that helps me remain focussed. I want to do my majors from London School of Economics.”  ]]>

Thirteen colleges including two renowned Delhi University colleges namely Gargi and Sri Venkateswara affiliated to UGC have been struck off from the status of ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ for not being re-accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Sri Venkateswara and Gargi were two of the 47 colleges that were awarded ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ status in 2004 by the University Grants Commission.

The other colleges in the list include Ch.S.D.St.Theresa’s College for Women (Andhra Pradesh), M.N.C.Balika Mahavidyalaya (Assam), St. Xavier’s College (Ranchi), Mount Carmel College (Bengaluru), St. Agnes College (Mangalore), Padmashri Vikhe Patil College of Arts, Science & Comerce (Ahmednagar), St. Anthony’s College (Meghalaya), Khallikote College (Orissa), Fakir Mohan College (Orissa), S.G.N. Khalsa College (Rajasthan), and Pt. L.M.S. Govt. Post Graduate College (Uttaranchal)

The principal of Gargi college, Meera Ramachandran said, “Though we have not been informed officially by the UGC, as no copy of such a letter has been received by the college yet, it is highly unfortunate that the college has to be penalized as the accreditation by NAAC has to be taken care by DU and not independently by colleges. Even after living up to the title and conducting many projects, it is highly disheartening”.

On asking if there was anything that was being done to make amends, she further exclaimed that further steps, if any, would be taken only after the receiving of the official letter.

 

Thirteen colleges including two renowned Delhi University colleges namely Gargi and Sri Venkateswara affiliated to UGC have been struck off from the status of ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ for not being re-accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Sri Venkateswara and Gargi were two of the 47 colleges that were awarded ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ status in 2004 by the University Grants Commission. The other colleges in the list include Ch.S.D.St.Theresa’s College for Women (Andhra Pradesh), M.N.C.Balika Mahavidyalaya (Assam), St. Xavier’s College (Ranchi), Mount Carmel College (Bengaluru), St. Agnes College (Mangalore), Padmashri Vikhe Patil College of Arts, Science & Comerce (Ahmednagar), St. Anthony’s College (Meghalaya), Khallikote College (Orissa), Fakir Mohan College (Orissa), S.G.N. Khalsa College (Rajasthan), and Pt. L.M.S. Govt. Post Graduate College (Uttaranchal) The principal of Gargi college, Meera Ramachandran said, “Though we have not been informed officially by the UGC, as no copy of such a letter has been received by the college yet, it is highly unfortunate that the college has to be penalized as the accreditation by NAAC has to be taken care by DU and not independently by colleges. Even after living up to the title and conducting many projects, it is highly disheartening”. On asking if there was anything that was being done to make amends, she further exclaimed that further steps, if any, would be taken only after the receiving of the official letter.  ]]>