The Fellowship

Start your transformative leadership journey with the Fellowship as your foundation towards creating long-term systemic change in education.

Apply now

What Is The Fellowship?

The Fellowship is a full-time, fully-paid two years Leadership Development Programme designed to equip aspiring leaders with the skills, on-ground experience and network to create change in the long run for: classrooms, communities, and the education system.

You will work closely with the school and local community to understand and address educational inequity from the roots while building a global professional network with Alumni, partners and mentors who are ready to guide and collaborate with you throughout your leadership journey.

Programme Details

Start Date	January 2025
Duration	2 years
Fee	No Fees
Mode	On-ground
Intake	28 October 2024 – 6 December 2024

Which Pathway Is For You?

Are you a fresh graduate/working adult?

The Teaching Partner Pathway is a full-time, fully-paid two-year Leadership Development Programme designed to equip aspiring leaders with the skills, on-ground experience and network to create change in the long run for: classrooms, communities, and the education system.

Click here for the Teaching Partner Pathway Infopack

Are you a new (5 years of service or under) KPM teacher?

The Fellowship (Guru Muda) Pathway aims to empower and support novice teachers to reach student outcomes in their first few years of teaching. The programme complements MOE’s existing teacher development programmes through training workshops and direct coaching sessions.

Click here for the Fellowship (Guru Muda) Infopack

The Problem

Every child deserves to create their future and live a life they truly love. However, a child’s background and systemic injustices often determine his or her outcome in life. Children from less privileged communities do not receive the same education opportunities. The pandemic in 2020 has further exacerbated this gap.

58% of 15-year-old Malaysians are unable to meet minimum levels of proficiency in reading.

A large percentage from poorer background lack proficiency in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Grade 5.

Malaysia has one of the highest learning losses among Asian developing nations, potentially resulting in a lifetime income loss of 767.5 billion ringgit for the 5 million+ students in Malaysia.

We Focus Our Impact On

92

Guru Hos found co-teaching beneficial to improve student outcomes. (TFM Guru Hos Survey 2023)

100

Principals indicated that Fellows have contributed to the betterment of the school. (TFM Principal Survey 2023)

72

Fellowship Alumni continue to work in the broader education and social sector after the Fellowship. (TFM Alumni Survey 2023)

What Will You Do As A Fellow?

Year 1 of Fellowship

Building Fellows’ capacity in foundational pedagogical and leadership aspects.

Year 2 of Fellowship

Empower Fellows to drive change in their classroom, school, or community.

The Programme Highlight

Masterclass Series

Every cycle, Fellows will be gaining new skills and knowledge in pedagogy and leadership depending on the theme of the cycle.

One-on-one Coaching

On top of the training sessions, each Fellow will be paired with a coach to grow their capability as an educator and a leader.

Peer Learning and Cohort Culture

To create a movement that is sustainable, we build collective leadership among our
Fellows through strong PLC and Cohort culture experience.

TFM Week

Fellows will have the chance to co-teach with influential people among our strategic partners such as celebrities, CEOs, and high-level government officers to provide opportunity for your students to meet someone inspiring.

Student Leadership Camp (SLC)

Fellows will equip the students with some design thinking skills and ensure the students have the chances to share their projects in school and pitch their ideas to get funds.

Dragons’ Den

Similar like SLC but this opportunity is for teachers to scale up their initiative for the
school or community.Fellows through strong PLC and Cohort culture experience.

Your Fellowship Journey

Join Us
Receive Pre-Service Training
Become a Teaching Partner at a High Need School
Receive ongoing coaching and support for 2 years
Initiate your own Community Project
Become an Alumni of a global & local network

Eligibility Criteria

If you match the criteria listed below, you are one application away from becoming a changemaker.

Teaching Partner Pathway
Guru Muda Pathway

Fellows under the Teaching Partner Pathway are employed by Teach For Malaysia for two (2) years, and placed in high-need schools around Malaysia. Fellows under this pathway have the opportunity to collaborate with existing teachers (a.k.a. Guru Hos/ Host Teachers) to enhance classroom environment & outcomes for students with varying backgrounds and learning capabilities.

Throughout the 2 years, Fellows will spend 50% of their time focused on classroom teaching, 30% on community engagement projects, and 20% on personal & professional development with Teach For Malaysia.

To be eligible to join the Fellowship, you must:

Be a Malaysian citizen below 40 years old
Hold an accredited Bachelor’s degree in any discipline
Have strong verbal and written English and Bahasa
Be a graduate from a local or overseas university
Have a strong academic track record

Fellows under the Guru Muda Pathway must be employed by the Ministry Of Education (MOE). Fellows under this pathway have the opportunity to empower and instil the belief that teachers are more than just a person who teaches in front of the class. They are also leaders of many talents and capabilities who can realize the true potential of themselves and others.

To be eligible to join the Fellowship, you must:

Currently teaching in SK, SMK, SJK, Sekolah Orang Asli/Orang Asal
Currently teaching in Johor, Perak, Selangor, or Sarawak Posted to school as MOE teacher between 2020-2024 (0-5 years in the system)
Teaching either Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Inggeris or Sejarah

What Our Fellows Say

The culture of learning, personal development and collaboration in the Fellowship was very valuable to me. We learnt from watching each other, sharing our successes, our struggles and working through them together. But most importantly, we leaned on each other’s passion and motivation to give the best to our students.

Deepa Gaurie (2020 Alumna)
Masters of Art English Literature, University of Edinburgh

The Fellowship certainly gives you people skills that may not easily be learned in a corporate environment. From improving in time management to learning how to cope with lots of work, I saw value in the Fellowship that I never truly realised until I transitioned over to CIMB.

Hamsaveni Vigneswararo (2015 Alumna)
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS)
Xi’an Jiaotong University

After graduating Monash, I applied for PwC & got rejected. After the Fellowship, PwC contacted ME – they recognised the skill set I developed as a teacher.

Kelvin Tan (2012 Alumnus)
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies & Communications
Monash University

The Fellowship is a unique opportunity for me to gain firsthand insight to real-life challenges faced by students and teachers, and for me to directly impact students in the classroom. I’m inspired by the movement of Alumni who come before me, who continue to fight for education equity even after the Fellowship. I challenge myself to become a better leader, so I can lead change not just in classrooms but in entire communities as well. By the end of my 2 years, I want to be able to answer those who ask me, ‘What are you doing to move Malaysia forward?’

Phavanjit Kaur (2018 Alumna)
Bachelor of International Relations, University of Nottingham, Malaysia

There are moments when I catch myself wondering if all that persistence I put in was worth it. A year of my life spent challenge after challenge, only to be faced with more challenges, navigating the challenges of leading a classroom. But now, after experiencing what it means to be a Fellow first-hand, I know for a fact that it was worth it.

I was right to have been so sure about joining this movement and I was right about Fellows truly making an impact. So all those hours of trying and struggling – they were tough – but they were also definitely more than worth it.

Beatrice Nita Jay (2020 Alumna)
Bachelor of Media Technology, Universiti Utara Malaysia