Wipro Expands Science Education Fellowship Program for US School Teachers

East Brunswick, New Jersey, USA - Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process Services Company, announced in a press release the expansion of the Wipro Science Education Fellowship (SEF) Program to three additional universities in the United States. The multi-year program, which aims to nurture excellence in science education in public school systems through teacher training, will be offered at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, University of South Florida, and University of Missouri, beginning August 2018 and will train a total of 180 Fellows over a period of three years.

The Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program trains educators to build leadership skills and teaching excellence within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by leveraging research-validated expertise from participating universities and designing transformative instructional experiences for under-funded K-12 school districts in the surrounding areas. The need for such investments in STEM education is highlighted by the fact that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 99 percent of STEM occupations require postsecondary education, compared to 36 percent of jobs overall.

"Wipro is deeply committed to improving STEM education in public schools and helping educators prepare students for the future," said Anurag Behar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wipro Limited. "The Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program works with educators across the U.S. who have a passion for improving public education and deep commitment to their communities. The program works with institutions with expertise in teacher education and the desire to develop it further, as well as credibility and relationships with local communities and school districts. We look forward to collaborating with these institutions to help further the cause of good education in the US.”

The three-year program, funded entirely by Wipro, consists of a rigorous selection process that will identify 20 experienced science teachers from grades K-12 within local school districts, each year, to participate in each university’s program. Thereby, the program will serve 60 fellows in total on an annual basis from the three universities and 180 Fellows overall over a period of three years.

The nomination process for the fellowship began in mid-March, while the selection process is due to be completed by early May. The fellowship program is scheduled to begin in August 2018.

Selected teachers will undergo 250 hours of intense capability development training by university teams guided by Arthur Eisenkraft, Distinguished Professor of Science Education, Professor of Physics and Director of the 'Centre of Science and Math in Context' (COSMIC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Each teacher will continue to teach in their respective schools and will also engage with local communities and other interested teachers throughout the course of the program. The program helps enable leadership, reflective practice and adult learning.

Successful participants of the Wipro SEF program will become part of the STEM Urban Learning & Leadership Community. This community seeks to create a cohort culture that builds both individual and collective capacity to give an impetus for STEM learning outcomes among urban students.

The Wipro Science Education Fellowship commenced in 2012 and to date, Wipro has collaborated with five universities to train more than 200 educators throughout more than 20 targeted school districts. Previous participating institutions include the University of Massachusetts Boston, Mercy College, Montclair State University, Michigan State University and the University of North Texas at Dallas.