(January 2020)
Indian youth belongs to the different socio-cultural background and are more seen to embrace the issues directly affecting them. These young minds generate more fresh and innovative ideas to make India more steady and prosper. They can immensely contribute to society if they have the right platform, proper skills, motivation and recognition to do so.
There are certain programs and fellowships for Indian youth that have a positive impact on the communities. To name a few; “Teach For India” Fellowship, Ashoka Young Changemakers, India Fellow Program, Inlaks Scholarships and many more. Their signature approach is rooted in positive youth development and is designed to ensure maximum impact for youth in the communities.
We take a look at these opportunities for youth to build their leadership skills:
Teach For India Fellowship Program 2020-22: Are you ready to be the change?
Read about the 10 Year Journey of ‘TEACH FOR INDIA’
Deadline: 1 March 2020
“Teach For India” Fellowship Program 2020-22 is now open for India’s brightest and most promising youth, from the nation’s best universities and workplaces, to serve as full-time teachers to children from low-income communities in some of the nation’s most under-resourced schools.
Teach For India offers applicants the chance to make a real difference in tackling one of India’s most pressing challenges — educational inequity. By presenting applicants with one of the most difficult challenges of their life, the Fellowship will help applicants develop leadership skills that are critical in today’s dynamic global work environment. The Fellowship Program gives applicants an opportunity to become a part of the solution and a change agent in the society.
Through this experience of teaching in classrooms and working with key education stakeholders like students, principals, and parents, their Fellows get exposed to the grassroot realities of India’s education system and begin to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and mindsets necessary to attain positions of leadership in education and identify their role in building a wider movement for educational equity in the country.
Benefits
- Teach For India Fellows will be paid a salary of Rs. 20,412 per month.
- If required to relocate from their home city, Fellows will be given a housing allowance ranging from Rs.5,300 to 10,000, depending on the city in which they will stay.
- In addition, Fellows will receive an allowance for school supplies.
HOW DOES TEACH FOR INDIA’S APPROACH TO TEACHING DIFFER FROM TRADITIONAL APPROACHES?
At Teach for India, they believe that Teaching is Leadership. For their Fellows and Students to be leaders, they focus on building skills and mindsets through their Leadership Development Journey. The LDJ takes Fellows through 8 milestones in which they explore where their classroom is on the Student Vision Scale, where they are on the Fellow Commitments Scale, what Competencies they need to work on and which Opportunities they can avail of to work on those. This is a cycle to build reflective practice throughout the journey. The Student Vision Scale defines the kind of Academic Achievement, Values and Mindsets and Exposure and Access their students need to have path-changing learning and make them student leaders. The Fellow Commitments Scale defines the three commitments, to Personal Transformation, to Collective Action and to Education Equity that all of us in the movement need to be leaders who will go on to eliminate educational inequity in the country.
Eligibility Criteria
- Teach For India is looking for potential Fellows who have exhibited academic proficiency, demonstrated leadership, strong organizational skills, hold a graduate degree and are inclined to make a commitment to the community. Students and professionals with a Bachelor’s Degree at the time of joining the Fellowship are invited to apply.
- The Fellows are going to be leaders of the movement towards educational equity. Aside from passion and commitment to the vision of educational equity, the fellowship looks for leadership potential that can develop through the two-year Fellowship.
- The Fellows are critical thinkers and problem solvers. They have grit, courage and set high expectations for themselves and for others. They demonstrate interpersonal skills through their interactions with various stakeholders.
- Fellowship is looking for diversity in their cohort, and their Fellows come from across the country, with varied levels of professional experience college students, working youth, experienced professionals, and entrepreneurs.
Still have questions? Read Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section.
Let’s understand in brief how the selection process works, visit this link.
For more information, visit https://www.teachforindia.org/
Ashoka Young Changemakers: A Platform for Young Social Entrepreneurs in India!
Deadline: 31 January 2020
Ashoka Young Changemakers is a Co-leadership programme for teenagers who are leading impact initiatives.
Ashoka identifies and supports the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, learns from the patterns in their innovations, and mobilizes a global community that embraces these new frameworks to build an “everyone a changemaker world”.
Ashoka Young Changemakers is a carefully selected network of young people who have found their power to create change for the good of all and are ready to take on their role as youth influencers, peer allies and co-leaders of the global Everyone a Changemaker movement.
Priorities
Ashoka focuses on four strategic priorities to help people understand and adapt to a world of accelerating change, where everyone is called on to be a leader:
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Every Child Practicing Empathy
- Youth Years
- Organizing for Changemaking
Perks & Responsibilities
- An international recognition of applicants ability to create positive change
- Become an integral part of a global community of like-minded teenage social innovators
- Attend Induction and Bootcamps with leading entrepreneurs – social and business
- Create personalised learning goals to grow as a leader and access Ashoka’s knowledge resources, mentors and events to achieve them
- Become a Peer ally, influence institutions, and build partnerships to create a culture of changemaking and problem-solving among the youth in the city/community/country
Eligibility Criteria
- Under 20 years of age (born in 1999 or later)
- Founder/Co-founder of an initiative that has achieved positive impact in the community
- Interested in taking on a new role as a role-model, youth influencer and co-leader
Process
- Stage 1: Online Nomination & Screening
Nominate yourself or someone you know through the online form. Reflect on your journey as a Changemaker and access inspiring ideas to advance your initiative. - Stage 2: International Review
Talk with 3–5 social entrepreneurs and young changemakers from Ashoka’s global network. Understand Ashoka better, and gain expert insights to advance your changemaking journey. - Stage 3: Selection Panel
Attend an in-person discussion and selection panel, that would include top social entrepreneurs, journalists and other leaders. Meet other top young changemakers and discuss ideas to influence youth culture in your country and to co-lead the Everyone a Changemaker movement. Reimbursements are available for all candidates to cover panel related expenses like domestic travel, accommodation, and food. Candidates can also bring a parent or adult ally during the visit.
What happens after selection?
The panel and Ashoka will invite a select group to become Ashoka Young Changemakers. You are inducted into a global community and gain access to co-leadership bootcamps, media partnerships, public speaking platforms, exposure visits, strategic allies and more opportunities to grow yourself and to influence youth culture in your country.
Every Ashoka Young Changemaker is tasked with the responsibility of co-leading the Everyone a Changemaker movement. As a co-leader, you can drive existing Ashoka initiatives for young people or come up with new ideas to fuel the movement.
Want to learn more about the programme?
Read the stories and updates from our global community of Ashoka Young Changemakers. More>
Got more question? Read FAQs section.
For more information, visit https://www.ashoka.org/en-in/about-ayc
India Fellow 2020 Program engaging Youth in Nation Building
Deadline: 29 February 2020
India Fellow Program 2020 creates a learning platform for young Indians who undergo a 13-month long journey of discovering their own leadership potential. It includes training, mentor-ship, reflections and hands-on work experience with a grassroots organization working on social issues.
Fellowship Design
Training & Workshops: The fellowship has approximately 8 weeks spread over the duration of overall 13 months where the fellows meet at a common point for training. This is divided into 3 parts:-
- Induction (20 days) at the start
- Midpoint (13 days) at the end of 6 months
- Travel workshop (10 days) and Endpoint (4 days) at the end
Work Assignment with Host Organization: The volume wise biggest chunk of the fellow life will be spent with a reputed, authentic and committed grassroots organization. This can be anywhere across the country on any thematic area.
- The fellow will be living in their work area, a rural or an urban setup, and working closely with the organization’s team to understand the social framework and development approach. This powerful experience inculcates sensitivity, deeper understanding and consciousness for the fellow to look inward as well as towards issues India faces at large.
Constant Engagement: While working intensively in the field areas, it becomes crucial to maintain a balance in action and reflection.
- Throughout the year, fellows document their observations, experiences and insights in the form of monthly blogs and a detailed year-end essay. They engage in regular virtual learning modules, online courses and fundraising to build a holistic understanding of the sector and gaining crucial skill sets.
- The fellows also stay in regular touch with the co-fellows and fellowship team over and above their host organization and the community, to peer learn from each other.
Mentorship: Every fellow is exposed to a pool of mentors, both from the host organization as well as the fellowship. A mentor is an expert with huge experience in their domain, someone who will be a philosopher and a guide to the fellow in his/her journey.
- Along with that, the fellowship ecosystem that consists of trainers, alumni, personnel from various host organizations and the program team are constantly available and interacting with the fellows to enrich the experience as friends and coaches. The mentorship piece helps the fellow build meaningful relationships and influential network for professional growth.
Benefits
The host organization supports the fellow with a monthly stipend of Rs. 16,000 INR for living expenses like accommodation, food and travel. The fellow in turn has to fund raise a total amount of 60,000 INR through the 13 months towards their training costs. This is done by the cohort as a collective action initiative with inputs and support from the fellowship team.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible, applicants must ensure that they:
- are between 21 to 28 years of age
- are already a graduate (in any discipline) or will be before fellowship begins
- are an Indian citizen
- are ready for a 13 month full time commitment to the fellowship
- understand that this is not just a job and will expect applicants to be engaged 24X7 in the process with the community
- understand that applicants can be placed in any part of the country and in any thematic area
You have read everything and still have a lot of questions…No worries! Here you will find responses by the fellowship team on some frequently asked questions by India Fellow aspirants.
For more information, visit https://www.indiafellow.org/about-the-fellowship/apply-now/
Inlaks Scholarships: US$100,000 funding for bright Young Indian
Deadline: 31 March 2020
Inlaks Scholarships provide the opportunity to young people with exceptional talent in any field to broaden their vision abroad and improve their skills to operate in society, thus making them a future vehicle of change in their environment.
The Inlaks Foundation was established in 1976 by Indoo Shivdasani to incorporate his existing philanthropic activities and to provide a permanent, independent body for the expansion of these activities. The Foundation has now been renamed the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation.
The Foundation has joint scholarship schemes with Imperial College London, Royal College of Art (RCA) London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London, University of Cambridge via the Cambridge Trust, Sciences Po, Paris.
The Foundation does not give scholarships in the following subjects:
- Engineering
- Computer Science
- Business Studies
- Medicine
- Public Health
- Fashion Design
- Music
- Film and Film Animation.
However, in the case of Imperial College, London, scholarships will be given for Engineering and Natural Sciences. Indian Studies as a subject is considered, only if it has contemporary relevance. In the field of Music, only applications for degrees in Western Classical singing will be considered. For Film, only applications for Documentary Filmmaking will be considered.
Specific Programme Proposed by the Applicants
Scholarships for research, training or professional improvement to be carried out abroad either independently or attached to a leading institution and not leading to a degree. Such a specific programme should exceed a six month duration. Candidates are expected to provide full details of their proposed programmes, including time and travelling plans, a full breakdown of costs, and evidence of agreement with such institutions, if required.
Benefits
- The scholarship covers full tuition fees, adequate living expenses and one-way travel allowance and health allowance.
- The maximum funding given by the Foundation is US$100,000. If the total funding required (tuition + living allowance) exceeds US$100,000, candidates must be able to show evidence that they have the ability to cover the additional requirement needed at the time of the preliminary interviews.
- Acceptance of other awards, teaching assistantships and part-time jobs are welcome after approval from the Foundation.
- The scholarship will not be awarded to candidates whose proposed course of study or specific project requires field trips back to India during their study tenure.
- Scholarships are awarded in May for commencement in subsequent September or October.
- Any scholarship not commenced within 9 months of being awarded will be forfeited.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Inlaks Shivdasani Scholarships are open to all Indian citizens who have been continuously resident in India for the past six months, at the time of making the scholarship application.
- Candidates are expected to hold a first class degree or equivalent from a recognized university/institution in India.
- Candidates applying for scholarships in art and design (fine/performing arts) will be judged primarily on the basis of their portfolio.
- Candidates who are Indian citizens and hold a good undergraduate degree from a recognized institution abroad, must have resided continuously or been employed or have been studying in India, for at least two years, post their return to India to be eligible to apply for the scholarship.
- Candidates having a postgraduate qualification (e.g. Master’s or PhD) from an institution abroad are not eligible to apply.
- Candidates who have already begun their postgraduate education at an institution abroad are also not eligible to apply.
- It is essential to have prior admission to the institution and course chosen at the time of the application. The Foundation will not consider candidates without admission or pending admission.
- Candidates can be a maximum of 30 years of age in the year of application.
- The scholarship applicants must be high achievers academically and otherwise and the Foundation will need proof of the same.
- The applicants are judged on not only their present achievements but also on their future potential. The Foundation prides itself on judging potential as much as performance.
Selection Procedure
- An independent Inlaks Selection Committee carries out the selection for the scholarship awardees. Applications received are analyzed and evaluated and the committee subsequently calls the most interesting and promising candidates for interviews.
- All applicants must be available for interviews in India. The interviews usually take place in either Mumbai or Delhi in the months of May or in June.
- The selection process is in two stages: A preliminary interview stage and if successful at the preliminary stage a Final interview round.
- Candidates that are short-listed for the interviews will have to arrange for their own travel and accommodation.
- Candidates who do not receive any communication from the Foundation by 15 May must assume that their applications have not been successful.
- The Foundation has been awarding scholarships to bright young Indians since 1976. The key to the Inlaks Scholarships is flexibility.
- The Foundation looks out for the unusual, special talent and identifies candidates a flair. Once the Foundation is convinced of the candidates’ potential it does everything possible to accommodate a worthy candidate.
For more information, visit https://www.inlaksfoundation.org/scholarships/how-to-apply/