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What does it take to quit a well-paying corporate job and do nothing but teach children for two whole

years? Just a firm belief that education can genuinely make a difference, as is being proven by these city

youngsters.

Duty-conscious professionals are increasingly taking a break from their careers to impart quality

education to children from low-income communities by being a part of various NGOs. DNA met a few

such people who have a full-time social career sans the hefty pay packages. Divesh Kumar, an

engineering graduate from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, is a fellow with 'Teach

for India' initiative and is currently teaching at a municipal school in the city. It was not a one day

decision for him to join this movement. In college he was working with a NGO called 'Dream a Dream'

which focuses on developing life skills through its plethora of after-school programs.

"I always wanted to be a part of the current education system and eliminate inequity in education. Just

after completing my engineering I joined the Teach for India fellowship. There was a month-long initial

rigorous training where one is not only exposed to the idea of teaching but also about the current

education system," says Kumar.

Chaitali Sheth, city director, Teach for India says that this nationwide education model has been a

success because the youth today is socially-inclined. "These young professionals have a strong passion

and they are working within the system to make that change. This is just like another freedom

movement and TFI is the first step towards eliminating the inequity of education. There is so much

change in the mindsets of principals, teachers and students since its inception."

28-year-old Ishpreet Bhatia who was working as a project lead with Infosys for five-and-a-half years,

decided to seek satisfaction through teaching. Soon after completing her engineering in IT from BharatiVidyapeeth College in 2004 she joined Infosys. After working in Pune for first two years, she moved to

Atlanta in US and worked there for three years. "After working for some years, there was a kind of

stagnation in my life. I had two things on my mind--one was higher studies and the other was working in

the social sector. I was more curious to know about the current education sector and wanted to be a

part of the education system at the grass root level," says Ishpreet.

So it did not take much thought before she decided to join the Teach for India program. "When I joined

TFI, I used to think it's no big deal but when we actually got into the technicality of teaching, it was not

easy. You have to not only make lesson plans but also need to understand the kid's psychology, what

background he comes from, what their parents think and so many things."

There is a spark at every fellow's face and all have come out of their comfort zones to be a part of this

movement. Archana Bhat, who worked with Axis Bank before joining this movement, is another fellow

with TFI.

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"There is so much satisfaction in working for the children and giving them the opportunities to learn

which they deserve. We need to think and plan strategies and continuously aim at improving their

performance," adds Bhat looking into the future.

A brush with the education sector has turned many of these youngsters into believers. Kumar for

instance sums it up by saying, "After my experience in teaching, I would love to continue working in thesocial sector--it is a powerful tool of change. It could be anything, if not just teaching."