Teaching English in Rural Schools India

Project At A Glance

Location: Delhi, Jaipur Start point: Delhi End Point: Delhi Duration: 2-12 weeks Hours: 30-40 hours per week Food: Local food (3 times a day) Room: Host family or hostel Date: First and Third Monday of each month

Project Summary

Opportunities exist for those with strong English skills. Yet in India, English instruction is not included in primary, public school curriculums. IFRE Volunteers strives to bridge this chasm to providing volunteers to teach English in India. Our volunteers offer instruction in collaboration with local resource poor schools. Our volunteer English teaching in India project covers teaching in several government schools in Delhi. Many poor children cannot afford private, English lessons often continuing on to higher schools with little or poor knowledge of Basic English.

Your role as a volunteer can help make a difference in these children's lives. Volunteer teachers in India are a prized and welcomed resource! As a teacher volunteer, you will work in underprivileged government schools and mostly work under the direction of a head teacher.

Skills/Qualifications Needed

No specific skills or qualifications are required. However, some kind of teaching certification or education degree is appreciated. A major in science, math or computer oriented classes is also preferred if you have no teaching education/credentials. Volunteers must have passion and interest to help children and improve their education.

Volunteer Responsibilities

In our Indian English teaching program, you work either as an independent teacher or as an assistant to a permanent English teacher. You will most likely be teaching in government schools. If IFRE cannot secure a placement in a government school, volunteers will teach in either a semi-government or private school where each school has a permanent English instructor. As an Volunteer English teacher in India, you will teach English using the set curriculum and using the books provided. Volunteers may also organize games, art lessons, singing, dancing and other creative, educational and extra-curricular activities. Volunteers may also support children with their homework efforts and encourage academic progress. Schools may seek the assistance of volunteers with help in other on-going academic activities or administrative duties.

Room/Food/Supervision

IFRE manages living accommodations, provides meals and supervision for volunteers for the entirety of their stay in India. During the volunteer period, most volunteers stay in our safe and secure home base, project hostel or host families. Our office and home base is located in Gurgaon, a beautiful city 40 miles a way of Delhi international airport. This location is very safe and manned with onsite security. It is a clean, sparsely furnished apartment but will meet all your needs as an IFRE volunteers. It is close to the local bus station. Info on amenities close by and transportation to nearby city, etc. internet café, restaurant and supermarket, local police station. This is the ideal arrangement for sharing your daily experiences with fellow volunteers and local staff. Home base bedrooms have multiple beds, so volunteers will usually share a room (same gender). Our in-country coordinator also lives at our home base to assist our volunteers 24/7.

Dependent on the season and flow of volunteers, you may be placed with a local host family or project hostel (mostly in orphanage). Our host families are socially respected and are experienced with hosting international volunteers. They have strong interest in our volunteers’ safety and well being and demonstrate this with caution and care. In most host family situations, volunteers will share a room with another volunteer of the same gender. Another viable option is an at-orphanage stay. Many orphanages in India have set aside special rooms to house international volunteers.

IFRE arranges room, food and supervision for volunteers throughout the program. All of IFRE’s cooks prepare a variety of delicious Indian food (naan, dahl and chapatti breads, curries, rice and pickles/chutneys). Details covering the arrangements for room/food are outlined in the prepared placement details. Volunteers will also have 24/7 access to IFRE's office as well as the mobile numbers of in-country coordinators. In addition, the director of the orphanage will serve as a local contact person for volunteers. IFRE's staff also visits each volunteer every 1-2 weeks as part of our program.