Skills/Qualifications Requirement

Though no prior teaching experience or skill is needed, volunteers joining the Teaching English program in India should have good English skills. Volunteers are expected to be flexible and patient and possess a passion and love for teaching.

The student class learning objectives: Alphabets, Numbers, Days of the week, Months, Telling the time, parts of the body, Animals-mammals, insects, sea life, birds and reptiles.

Arrival and Orientation

Volunteers are advised to arrive at New Delhi, the nearest international airport and then commute to Jaipur on their own, as for now, Delhi is not covered in our program. There are few domestic flights, some trains and many deluxe/air-conditioned buses available which are both safe and comfortable. Travelling time for Delhi-Jaipur is 40 minutes via air and five and half hours via rail/road. For more details on how to reach Jaipur, please go through the general information link on our website www.volunteeringinindia.org

The program starts with arrival in Jaipur where you are met and taken to host family/guest house. Volunteers have to stay for 3 days at host family/ guest house at Jaipur for orientation, resting, sight-seeing and for learning a little bit of Hindi. But they are free to go to nearby tourist places on weekends at their own expenses. The only transportation expenses included are for sight-seeing, drop at placement site and pickups/drops from place of stay to school. Volunteers will have to bear personal expenses i.e. laundry charges, internet, fruits, mineral water and entry fees to museums which are nominal.

Accommodation

We provide accommodations with host families/guest houses. Accommodation is also provided sometimes with in the orphanage/rehabilitation center or host organization’s complex in separate guest rooms or shared dormitories for volunteers. It is excited to stay with a family; that way you will learn the local way of life, next local people, eat local food and engage in local customs and traditions. Living is basic but all home stays have electricity, proper beds, bedding, running filtered water and sometimes even internet access. Volunteers can expect to share a room with one or two other volunteers. While bedding is provided, it is recommended that volunteers bring their own sleeping bag and mosquito nets for any trips during weekends or holidays.

Program Schedule

The volunteer program starts on the 1st and 15th of every month. You can choose to be a volunteer in any area with varied durations ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months. The English teaching program is limited during the months of May and June as local schools would have summer vacation during this period.

Major Indian festivals take place during the period September to November. The exact dates of festivals are decided by lunar calendar. To see calendar of events click here. This would interrupt your program. We wouldn’t recommend to initialize your placement during this time of the year if you opt to volunteer for a month or less. On the other hand, this period provides a once-a-lifetime opportunity to closely interact with the local culture for those who choose to volunteer for longer period of time.

Afternoon Activities

During our work with volunteers during the last few months we have come to realize that a significant number of volunteer often seek more working hours than have been offered by our projects so far. For this reason, our programs would offer a number of optional afternoon activities that would help the volunteers have a wider impact during the stay.

English classes: In an increasingly unilingual world, knowledge of English can make a huge difference to the confidence, employability and social status of an individual. With English not being the first language in the rural areas, people from a vast majority of Indian population miss out on quality opportunities of gaining confidence in the use of knowledge. Volunteers, with their involvement in teaching English to local women can help the project achieve a multitude of objectives like empowerment and increasing employability.

Computer training: Computer knowledge can give students an employability advantage and make it easier for them to access modern means to information and expressions. Volunteers can make use of the well tested and developed modules of imparting basic computer skills to the enthusiastic local girls and women.

Teaching spoken English: Volunteers can also teach etiquettes or spoken English to the students, to the host family members or to the host organization’s staff and their family members.

Maintenance of institutional facilities: During some afternoons, the volunteers can take up maintenance, renovation and decoration of their various work places like schools, day care centers etc. Such work will not be available on a continuous basis and hence may be seen as an extra activity that the volunteers would carry out.