Dear Friends,

Government schools come under a lot of flak for underperforming, and in most cases, rightfully so. Some time ago, we had spoken about how government school teachers are not under-qualified, but what is missing is a ‘tadka’ of motivation, pushing them to transact better in the classroom.

One project shattering the stereotype of the disinterested teacher is the In-Service Teacher Education Institute (ITEI), the result of a successful public-private partnership between Tech Mahindra Foundation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). EDMC directly runs 365 primary schools. It employs nearly 5,500 teachers to teach 2.15 lakh children. This year, ITEI will complete five years. Over the past five years, it has conducted several workshops not just in subject matters such as mathematics, English and science, but also techniques to manage large classrooms, creating a child-friendly environment in school, practices to ensure inclusion and equity, fair assessment of children and ways to enhance parental involvement in children’s education.

Perhaps one of the most significant changes we have managed to bring about has been in the attitude of the teachers – where they now look forward to workshops with our trainers, rather than viewing it as yet another duty to discharge. Each training session ends with feedback from the teachers, and over 85% of the participants find the training relevant and enriching. Do watch this video to see how ITEI is transforming government schools in East Delhi, one teacher at a time!

We are pleased to share that EDMC is keen to extend this partnership beyond the original five years, and other municipal corporations have expressed interest in a similar program being created for their schools. We hope that ITEI will show that government school teachers can deliver value to their students.

Warm Regards,
Tech Mahindra Foundation