India is battling an educational crisis of unprecedented proportions. Half of the country’s
Standard 5 students cannot read a Standard 2 level text in their native language. Seventy-six per cent of Indian students don’t make it to college. The list of alarming statistics doesn’t end there. But who are the faces behind these statistics? What are their stories? What would it take to alter their futures and subsequently, the future of India?
Grey Sunshine tells the human stories behind the national crisis we see—and yet don’t see—every single day: the state of Indian education. It is an invitation to walk in the shoes of
hundreds of thousands of children from less privileged backgrounds. Battling the injustices
of poverty alongside them are 4,000 unlikely leaders from Teach For India, a two-year
fellowship programme that places young people as full-time teachers in government
classrooms across the country. The stories of these students and teachers represent the
struggle to reform a failing education system and the hope for a brighter sun to shine
tomorrow.
Sandeep Rai is the Chief of City Operations at Teach For India. He has played a critical role in growing the Teach For India movement in the last decade, serving in various leadership positions across the organization. Prior to joining TFI, Sandeep taught secondary science in Washington DC, as a Teach For America corps member. Sandeep holds two master’s degrees: one in Teaching and Education from American University (Washington, DC) and the second in International Affairs and Economic Policy from Columbia University (New York). He currently lives in Pune, India.
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