26 of Bihar's 'Super 30' clear JEE Advanced this time
Bihar's 'Super 30' Academy continues to churn out success-stories. This time, 26 of them cracked the JEE-Advanced. The institute is known for its high success rate in the prestigious IIT entrance exam, especially because all its students come from underprivileged families. Since its inception in 2002, 422 of 480 'Super 30' students, who are provided free food and accommodation, have qualified for the IITs.
What is Super 30?
"Ramanujan School of Mathematics" is math wizard Anand Kumar's labor of love; every year he combs through millions of applications and picks 30 students from poor backgrounds to form his 'Super 30.' These students are then given free coaching, lodging and food, and made ready for one of the toughest exams in India. Kumar's laudable initiative has earned him accolades around the world.
Landless-farmer's son, whose parents never went to school, cracked Advanced
Among its success stories this time are Onirjit Goswami, son of a Kanpur factory worker, who arrived at Kumar's door after reading about Super 30 in a newspaper. Suraj Kumar of Jharkhand, whose father is a landless farmer and whose parents have never been to school, thanked Kumar for not just all the help, but also for "boost(ing) our morale."
'Sir made me fall in love with math'
For Yash Kumar, son of a refrigerator salesman, Kumar provided him more than coaching for IIT: due to his teacher's innovative teaching methods, "my interest in mathematics has also grown immensely." Suryakant Das, son of a school peon, said Super 30 turned his life around. "After engineering, I will support Super 30 for helping more and more students like me," he said.
'For my students, clearing JEE is a life-changing transformation'
Critics will find flaws in everything. None of Kumar's students had ever ranked on top, they point out. Moreover, all 30 have cleared JEE four times, but couldn't do it this time. But Kumar isn't disappointed at all, explaining their achievement is a big deal by itself. "Most students are first-generation learners in their families, and coming this far means transformation in their lives."
Of those who didn't clear JEE, two made it elsewhere
About the four who didn't clear JEE this time, Kumar says two of them had left his coaching midway after clearing other competitive exams. "Two others had also worked hard, but not making it to JEE-Advanced is not a big letdown for them," he said.
Kumar now wants to expand Super 30 to other states
Kumar says he wants to expand Super 30 to other parts of India, "but there are various constraints...I will have to find a way to reach out to more students. Super 30 will soon organize a screening test and the information will be made available on the institute's website." A film on Kumar, starring Hrithik Roshan and directed by Vikas Bahl, is in the works.
