Teach For India and St. Xavier’s College Launch MA in Transformational Leadership

Mumbai, September 24, 2025: Teach For India, in collaboration with St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, has launched a Master’s Degree in Transformational Leadership. The two-year postgraduate program will allow selected Teach For India Fellows to pursue the degree while continuing their full-time, paid teaching work in under-resourced schools.

The programme combines academic learning with leadership development, covering areas such as classroom culture, data-driven instruction, assessments, education leadership, stakeholder engagement, and community projects. It will also include sessions on arts and sports education, policy, education technology, and school leadership.

Shaheen Mistri, Founder and CEO, Teach For India, said, “We are very excited to launch this first-ever Master’s Degree program in partnership with St. Xavier’s College. This program will develop our selected Teach For India Fellows into leaders who will not only understand educational inequity in its deepest context but will also possess the knowledge and leadership skills to transform classrooms. We will be running this program as a pilot to begin with, so that we can fine-tune it to serve our Fellows purpose better. We hope that this program enables collective action and empowers the Fellows to build innovative change projects and choose a career path with a deep commitment to educational equity.”

Rajendra Shinde, Former Principal, St. Xavier’s College, added, “Our association with Teach For India is a deeply personal one. Not only is Shaheen an alum of our institution, but I have also had the privilege of seeing my own daughter’s transformative journey as a Teach For India Fellow. It gives me immense hope to know that we are building leaders who have deep, profound understanding of what an excellent education looks like. St. Xavier’s has always been a pioneer, known by our commitment to Trust, Quality, and Care - and we feel proud to be the first to institute a Master’s in Transformational Leadership, in partnership with Teach For India.”

The degree, awarded by St. Xavier’s College (an autonomous institution affiliated with the University of Mumbai), is fully UGC-recognised and valid for higher education, national-level exams, and jobs requiring a postgraduate qualification.