How can I use my TEFL Qualification in a Volunteer Capacity?

The TEFL Academy – Schools Programme 2015

If you are a newly qualified TEFL teacher, you may want to consider volunteer work as a means of gaining experience and insight, not to mention a few resume entries, all the while providing the invaluable gift of English as a second language to children in the world’s poorest nations. Volunteering would enable the TEFL student to see some of the most culturally rich and vibrant countries in the world whilst using their skillset to better the lives of underprivileged children, and with that in mind The TEFL Academy developed The TEFL Academy Schools Programme, a non-profit charitable division of The TEFL Academy.

The TEFL Academy Schools Programme has already launched the Bangladesh school, and is currently working on projects in India, Kenya, and Brazil. The aim of the programme is not only providing English tuition to the poorest children in the village, but also school uniforms and food for all of the school’s students as well. The TEFL grads who have experienced volunteering at the school in Bangladesh call it “one of the most enriching experiences of their lives,” helping these children better themselves and their families. With the programme live in Bangladesh, The TEFL Academy is already setting up programmes in a variety of other countries around the world.

The Schools Programme in Bangladesh

With twenty-six percent of all one hundred and fifty million Bangladeshi people living on less than two dollars a day, Bangladesh is easily both one of the poorest and most densely populated counties in the world. Sadly, forty-eight percent of Bangladeshi children are malnourished as well.

The TEFL Academy Schools Programme has been established in Bangladesh since last year, and is the first school within the project. Located near the small village of Sylhet, the Schools Programme school provides children with free education, uniforms, and food, and aims to prepare them for exams as per the national curriculum.

The Schools Programme in Brazil

Though Brazil boasts an economy within the top ten in the world, it is unfortunately a country of extreme inequality, with half the country’s income owned by just ten percent of the people. As a result, there are over thirty million children living in abject poverty.

The TEFL Academy’s Schools Programme is partnering with two other international education charities, with the aim to filter in volunteer TEFL teachers to schools in some of the poorest corners of the country.

The Schools Programme in Kenya

Kenya is a region that suffers from near continuous natural disasters, and situations such as droughts and floods means that food supplies are often compromised, either by the weather itself or the inability for aid to make it through, especially in areas where a semi nomadic life is still adhered to. This is especially true of Northern Kenya, where even the basic necessities such as healthcare, running water, and sanitation are not being met. Many in Kenya face extreme levels of deprivation, and it is thought that more than fifty percent of the nation’s populace live in poverty.

The TEFL Academy has been battling the governmental red tape in the region in order to get a school set up similar to the one in Bangladesh, and will need many volunteer teachers to provide education to the region’s children.

The Schools Programme in India

The TEFL Academy’s focus in India is to set up free schooling in the slums of Mumbai. With negotiations already underway on venues, the volunteers in Mumbai are already identifying what could be considered the neediest areas of the community. The TEFL Academy’s Schools Programme takes a very grass roots, down to earth approach in assessing and monitoring projects worldwide, allowing for the needs to be met of some of the poorest and most deprived children in each region.

Recruitment

The TEFL Academy is currently recruiting young, enthusiastic TEFL volunteers for both the current project in Bangladesh and the upcoming projects elsewhere in the world. If you would like to help underprivileged children in some of the poorest areas of the world receive a basic education, while you yourself embark on the adventure and opportunity of a lifetime, please contact The TEFL Academy to apply for your position today.