01 Connect with love
- A school consultation before the Council
- A baseline before Nayi Soch
Beyond the Blackboard
Understanding People, Policy & Practice.
Chapter 01 · About
Working at the intersection of classrooms, communities and education systems.
An educator and public-systems practitioner committed to building equitable, evidence-informed and lasting learning environments for every child.
- Gold Medallist, MA English Literature, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata
- 2025–2027 Teach For India Fellow
- Teacher at a KMCP school in Kolkata (grades: see note below)
I joined the Fellowship with one question: what would it take for every child to have the opportunities that education opened for me? I am looking for government-facing implementation roles in foundational learning.
My practice
- Programme design and implementation
- Stakeholder engagement and partnerships
- Data-informed decision-making
My values
- Excellence in learning and execution
- Integrity in purpose and practice
- Accountability towards stakeholders and outcomes
The question
How can people, institutions and policy work together to create learning environments where every child can learn, lead and thrive?
For review. The two source files differ on what I teach: the Old portfolio says “Grade 4 English”, the New one says “Grades 3–5”. This page says only “teacher at a KMCP school” until you confirm. Please also confirm the exact job title wording.
Chapter 02 · My Journey
From literature to governance. From equity to impact.
A journey of expanding my lens, from understanding privilege and institutions to working on outcomes that create more equitable and inclusive opportunities.
2022
Kolkata
The gold medal
Receiving my gold medal deepened my awareness of privilege and the responsibility it brings.
2024
New Delhi
Governance and institutions
Built a deeper understanding of governance, institutions and people-centred systems, through civil services preparation.
2025
Govt. Primary School, Kolkata
Equity in practice
Began the Teach For India Fellowship, working at the intersection of equity and practice to create meaningful and measurable impact.
Ahead
Looking ahead
Implementation at scale
A desire to practise meaningful implementation and create long-term impact in policy and public systems.
Source note: the 2022 and 2024 entries appear in both files. “2025–2027 Fellowship” is covered in the Fellowship chapter.
Chapter 03 · Method
How I work — and where it shows.
Six habits, each tied to something I actually did.
01
Start with evidence
Baselines before Udaan and Nayi Soch.
02
Understand the context
A school-wide consultation before the Student Council.
03
Design for the learner
Worksheets at each child’s readiness level.
04
Build with stakeholders
Outside facilitators brought into KMC classrooms.
05
Execute with ownership
A 16-session programme, and sessions re-taught after the data.
06
Reflect and adapt
Changing my practice after what the evidence showed.
Chapter 04 · The Fellowship
Two years to unlearn and relearn, then to lead and build what lasts.
Sultan Ahmed Memorial KMCP School is a Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Teach For India intervention school with over 200 children. Most children come from migrant-worker families.
43children in my class
200+children in the school
12School Team Lead team
Year 1. Unlearn and relearn.
Year 2. Lead and build what lasts.
02 Envision with possibility
- Udaan, with 36 children
- Nayi Soch
- Pre-primary to about Class 2 in a year (my class, 3 children)
03 Reflect with integrity
- Baselines; outside evaluators scored Udaan
- Missing data is never recorded as zero
- Re-taught my own sessions
04 Plan and execute with excellence
- Udaan: 4 domains, 16 competencies, 16 sessions, 3 modules, 3 rounds
- Neev; worksheets by level
05 Leading self
- McKinsey Forward scholar
- Google Project Management Certificate (in progress)
- Data analytics, Excel and public policy courses (in progress)
06 Leading others
- School Team Lead of 12, more than half KMC staff
- Learning circle for 16 Fellows
- M&E lead for the Pujo camp
- Recruited Fellows over six months
07 Leading India
- Programmes mapped to NIPUN Bharat, NCF-SE and PARAKH
- Worked with KMC on curriculum
- Student Council selected among 29 schools at the TFI City and HM Conference
For review: the Old file says “led a team of 12 for one term”; the New file says “School Team Lead of 12” with no duration. I used the Old wording’s number only. Please confirm the duration.
Chapter 05 · Selected Projects
Six pieces of work, each with its own story.
Open a project for the case study: problem, design, implementation, evidence, limits and reflection. Items marked “To be added” are genuinely pending, not zero.
Chapter 06 · Research & Data
Evidence first. Decisions after.
Every programme I design starts with a baseline and ends with a question: what should I change?
Neev · reading level, my own class
Where seven children began and where they were a year later. Source: beginning-of-year SAT portal assessment, then a year later.
Bar lengths are schematic: pre-primary ≈ lowest, Class 2, Class 4–5 ≈ longest. The three began at pre-primary and reached about Class 2. The four began near Class 2 and reached Class 4, some Class 5. One class, taught and assessed by me, no external evaluator.
Udaan · who was assessed
32 of 36 children were assessed in all three rounds. Four missed the midline and endline and appear as missing, never as zero.
Baseline · midline · endline
| Programme | Baseline | Midline | Endline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udaan (4 domains) | To be added | To be added | To be added | Pending coding; scored by three external evaluators |
| Nayi Soch (confidence, aims, teamwork) | Taken before Session 1; to be added | — | To be added | Pending analysis |
| Student Council | Children’s reflections and my own record | To be added | ||
Protocol before data
For Nayi Soch the analysis protocol was written before any data was read.
Independent scoring
Three external evaluators scored the Udaan rounds. Some evaluator disagreements remain unresolved.
Limits, stated
Audition selection, assessments I designed, a small comparison group, one school. Anonymised records are available on request.
What I changed after the data
| Area | What the data showed | What I changed |
|---|---|---|
| Udaan | To be added | I re-taught my own sessions. |
| Foundational literacy | Children at pre-primary and near Class 2 at the start. | Worksheets mapped to NIPUN Bharat Goal 2, plus fluency sessions. |
| Nayi Soch | To be added | To be added |
| Student Council | To be added | To be added |
For review: the Old file describes a comparison group of about 20–25 of an intended 36 children (descriptive only, not causal). The New file says only “a small comparison group”. I kept the New wording; tell me if you want the Old detail added.
Chapter 07 · Beyond the Classroom
Beyond the classroom, into the system.
Internships
- Curriculum development internship with KMC
- Fellow recruitment internship, recruiting Fellows over six months
- Depth track in the public sector
Leading with people
- School Team Lead, collaborative role (to confirm)
- Learning circle for 16 Fellows
- M&E lead for the Pujo camp across Kolkata clusters
- Facilitated Udaan sessions in two Pujo camp clusters
Work with government
- Led a school team where KMC staff were the majority
- Brought outside facilitators into KMC classrooms
- Adopted systems advised by KMC staff
- Written feedback to two teachers mapped to NIPUN Bharat
What I bring
- Programme design: Udaan, Neev, Nayi Soch
- Monitoring, evaluation and learning
- Education and policy: NIPUN Bharat, NCF-SE, PARAKH
- Leadership and communication
Nothing here implies a government partnership or endorsement beyond what is stated.
Chapter 08 · In Their Words
Words from those I worked with.
Neither source file contains an actual quotation yet, so none is invented here.
[Add testimonial][Name] · KMC Headmaster
[Add testimonial][Name] · KMC colleague
[Add testimonial][Name] · KMC teammates
[Add testimonial][Name] · Volunteers
[Add testimonial][Name] · Programme manager
[Add testimonial][Name] · Other
Closing · Contact & CV
Every child can learn, lead and thrive. The work is making the system say yes.
- Shayari Banerjee · Based in Kolkata, India
- Email: [Add the contact details you want to show]
- LinkedIn: [Add LinkedIn link]
- CV: [Add CV link, e.g. href="CV.pdf"]
No student photographs are shown. Student identities are protected and assessment records appear anonymised; records are available on request. Any photographs used are shared with due permission.