Hat-trick for Bihar's Super-30: All students make it to IITs

[Bang Galore]

PATNA: Bihar's famous Super-30 achieved a hat-trick with all its 30 students making it to IITs for the third consecutive year in 2010. It was in 2002 that maths wizard Anand Kumar, who could not pursue higher studies in Cambridge University due to poverty, made the Super-30 initiative under which 30 poor students are coached free of cost every year to crack IIT-JEE. Altogether 212 of the 240 Super-30 students have cleared one of India's toughest exams during the last eight years.

Like those it groomed earlier, the Super-30 stars this year too are wards of landless farmers, typists, a domestic help and a grade IV government employee. Of them, 20 are OBCs, one is SC and nine are general. Komal Agrawal, Saurabh Agrawal and Atul Kumar Sinha, the Super-30 toppers, are all OBCs.


"Though I have cleared JEE in my second attempt, my ambition is to eventually join Union civil services," lone SC candidate Anand Kishore said.

A jubilant 'Anand sir', as the Super-30 founder is called by his students and their guardians, was an epitome of modesty. "More than to me, the credit goes to the students who slogged for

16 hours daily for months in the run-up to the all-India exam," he said and reiterated he would increase the intake to 60 for the Super-30 centre from this year onwards.

Amit Kumar and Pravin Kumar, who teach physics and chemistry respectively at the Super-30 centre, were also all praise for the students. "These students come from humble families, but they are sharp and intelligent," Amit said. Pravin added, "I enjoy taking classes for these children for they are very receptive."



Son of poor Bihar farmer cracks IIT-JEE

Patna: The IIT-JEE 2010 results were announced on Wednesday and 30 of those who made it come from Super 30, Patna's well-known IIT coaching centre.

It's a proud moment for Sarvesh Kumar, walking proudly in his house to seek the blessings of his parents. Sarvesh has cracked the IIT-JEE. His family is not very well off, and IIT seemed a distant dream just a couple of years ago. But Sarvesh managed to achieve it thanks to hard work, and his parents' support.

"Our financial condition is not very good. My mother stitches clothes. She does it the entire night so that I can study. My father goes to the village to do farming. Sometimes we do not have enough to eat," says Sarvesh.

"My son worked very hard. We also worked hard. We did not allow his studies to suffer. So I used to stitches cloths so that he could study," says Sarvesh's mother Meera Devi.

Where there's a will, there's a way and if the efforts are aided by expert guidance, success is bound to touch one's feet.

No one would understand it better than Sarvesh, the son of a small time farmer, whose father slogged out in fields and mother on a sewing machine to help their son realise his dreams.

Sound of the sewing machine never really disturbed his study, it rather gave him more conviction to achieve his target.

Living in a two-room house, at times helping his mother with her customers, and cycling 15 kms everyday to his coaching centre, Sarvesh never gave up on his dream. His coaching fees were waived off by his institute. But his parents' are worried how they will pay the hefty tuition fees at IIT, with their meager income.

"We are planning to take loan," says his father Sriram Singh.

The zeal to crack IIT-JEE reflects in overall results this year. Over 800 students have cracked IIT-JEE 2010 from Bihar alone. As the momentum picks up in rural Bihar, it would push more Sarveshs on the success path.

 

[Bang Galore]

Patna's Super-30 among Asia's best: Time

PATNA: In what has come as yet another feather in its cap, Patna maths wizard Anand Kumar's Super-30 initiative has made its way to the list of ‘Best of Asia - 2010', prepared by Time magazine of the US.

"Super-30 centre has a success rate of 100%. What makes that feat even more remarkable is that these (its) students are the poorest of the poor who would otherwise never be able to afford full-time coaching," the mag says in its latest issue.

Under the Super-30 initiative, poor students are coached free of cost to crack JEE, one of the toughest all-India exams, and secure admission to coveted IITs (Indian Institute of Technology). All its 30 students came out with flying colours in 2008 and 2009. Altogether 182 of the 210 students of the Super-30 centre, being run since 2002, have made it to the IITs.

Most of the successful aspirants are wards of marginal farmers, schoolteachers, police constables and grade IV government employees.

"It's an honour; I am excited," Kumar said when asked about the Time recognition. From this year onwards, he said, the intake of aspirants is being increased from 30 to 60. "This fresh international recognition would give me further strength to do more for the poor and downtrodden," Kumar told TOI.Already the Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Punjab governments have decided to adopt the Super-30 model to help poor IIT aspirants of their respective states.

On invitation from these governments, Kumar visited these states recently and provided guidelines to the state education officials and others concerned.

In February, Kumar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him of his plans to launch a talent hunt for IIT aspirants in villages of Bihar. He also made few suggestions to PM regarding reforms in the JEE format.

 

[Bang Galore]

 

[RajeHind]

Anand kumar is the guy who founded this super 30...i have seen the program on discovery network, how he found and made diamonds out of rubbles....he could have left bihar and resided in luxury foreign apartments but he chose a path, which only a true lover of soil can opt for...hats off for such unknown heroes of my india.

If such zeal is in every educated indians, we can make india super power within a decade.

 

[Bang Galore]

The success saga of Rahmani-30: Insights from an insider

By Majaz Hoda,

“Incredible Institution”— Bill Gates (MS Corp.)

“One of the best systems in the world” – John Chamber (CISCO).

“World Treasure” – Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com).

“IIT=Harvard+MIT+Princeton” – Leslie Stahl (Co-host of CBS'60 minutes).

These are the terms used by well known gentlemen to describe Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). IITs, which command great respect in the world, were created to train scientists and engineers, with the aim of developing a skilled workforce to support the economic and social development of India after independence in 1947.

World fame IITs

The IITs have long had a reputation of being among the very best engineering institutions in the world. Entrance to these world famous institutes is through Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE).The JEE is probably the most demanding undergraduate entrance exam in the world. Harvard accepts only 10% of its applicants whereas IITs accept only 2.5%. Around 3.95 lakh students appeared for the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) on 12th April 2009, an increase of 0.84 lakh from the previous year.

The 2010 batch of Rahmani 30 who cracked IIT-JEE

High rejection rate has not deterred students in taking shot at IIT-JEE. Coaching institutes have mushroomed all over the country to prepare students for this examination. These institutes have acquired the status of a big industry. Rough estimate put this industry worth Rs 10,000 crores. These institutes charge hefty fees with some charging as much as Rs 1.5 lakh from the students to prepare for this course. In this highly commercialised world poor meritorious students end up as losers.

The man called Abhayanand

Mr. Abhayanand (ADGP) brought smiles on the faces of those unprivileged students who could not realise their IIT dream just because of lack of money by introducing concept of “Super 30”. Super 30 picked up poor meritorious students from the remote corners of Bihar. They were brought to Patna, provided food, lodging and coaching under one roof—free of cost. The intensive course lasted seven months. When the entrance results for 2003 were announced, 18 of the 30 had made it. The experiment was successful. This concept had dispelled the notion that only those attending expensive coaching institutes and living in big cities could make it to the IITs. After achieving success rate of 100% in 2008, Abhayanand thought of implementing this concept among other weaker sections of society.

Birth of Rahmani-30

Rahmani-30 came into existence in July 2008 after Abahyanand consented to guide Muslim students under the management of Rahmani Foundation, Munger. The entrance test for Rahmani-30 was held in 13 cities of Bihar on 20th July 2008. Thousands of Muslim students appeared in the test. After written test and personal interviews, 16 students were finally selected. Only 10 out of 16 chose to continue the course.

The 2009 batch of Rahmani 30 who cracked IIT-JEE

Success mantra

Inspired by this noble initiative, many teachers offered to volunteer. Millat Educational Trust offered its building for this purpose. Classes started on 10th Aug 2008 for the first batch of Rahmani-30. All the students were shaped into one unit to achieve one goal. They were provided with all the amenities necessary to help them in studies. Students worked hard under the watchful eyes of Abhayanand and teachers. Apart from few minor hiccups all went as per plan. Students were put under rigorous test series for last 3 months of the course to make them perform under pressure. Keeping them under one roof helped them immensely as they were ready to help each other with problems round the clock. They were encouraged to have group discussion whenever they encountered problems in any subject. Other factor which helped them in achieving this unprecedented success was that they were kept away from all the distractions. Guardians also cooperated and kept contacts with students to the minimum. While preparing to become a successful IIT Engineer they were also working hard to become a true Muslim. Regular Salat were part of daily routine. They were also reminded about the Golden Period of Islam and discoveries made by renowned Muslim scientists. All the Rahmani-30 support staffs were ever willing to help these students all the time so that they can spend most of the time on studies.

Success came calling

On the day of IIT-JEE examination, all the students were not showing any sign of nervousness as numerous test series had made them well prepared. All the students had discussion with Abhayanand ji and teacher in the evening. Mood was upbeat in the evening of 12th April.

Maulana Wali Rahmani, Abhayanand and others in happy mood after 2009 results

Then came the 25th May 2009, hard work of Abhayanand, teachers and students was rewarded and all the 10 students of Rahmani-30 had cleared the IIT-JEE with flying colours. Within minutes of declaration of IIIT-JEE result, Rahmani 30 success was talk of the town and media converged on the campus to know the details.

The journey that started in August 2008 is on, registering success every year. First year it was 100%, this year a little low. However, the Rahmani-30 administration is determined to continue the journey with more vigor and hard work in the greater interest of the community. The movement will inspire many for years to come.

(The writer is member of Executive Committee of Rahmani-30)

 

[RajeHind]

"Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended"....president forever APJ abdul kalam.

 

[Bang Galore]

Indian Muslims Should Emulate Super 30 Model

by Syed Ali Mujtaba


There is a view among a segment of Indian Muslim that instead of seeking favors from the government and hankering for reservation for shedding the burden of backwardness, some members of the community should come forward and emulate the Super 30 model of Bihar to uplift the fellow members of the community.

The Sachar Committee report reveals the abysmally low share of Muslims in professional courses, especially in institutes of excellence in the country. In 2006-07, only 3.3% of all students in all IITs and around 1.3% in all IIMs were Muslims. In IAS, the representation of Muslims was only 3% and it was 4% in IPS.

Super 30 is an initiative under which poor students are giving educational coaching free of cost to crack the highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE).

The coaching institutes takes 90 students every year divided into a batch of 30 students each and it has repeatedly demonstrated that how professional coaching can make the under privileged students crack the entrance test of the top engineering colleges of the country.

The 30 students are selected from among 3,000-odd aspirants who write the Super 30 entrance test. The entrance test is held in Lucknow, Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi in UP, Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur in Bihar.

Once selected, the students are provided professional coaching, food and lodging facilities, all free of cost. Parents of most of the students come from the bottom rung of the society, some being brick kiln workers, domestic help and doing menial jobs.

The institute was started in 2003 by two dynamic persons, one a mathematician and other a police officer. In the first year, 18 of its students made it to the prestigious IITs and the number rose to 22 in 2004 and 26 in 2005. In 2007 and 2006, 28 students made it through ITT-JEE. In the last seven years, 182 students out of 210 have made it to different IITs of the country. And for the last two years, all 30 students of Super 30 have made it to the IITs and this includes students from the Muslim community as well.

A British filmmaker narrated the success story of Super 30 trough the Discovery Channel and also a Japanese documentary film maker made a film on this innovative and successful attempt to send poor children to India’s top most engineering colleges.

The Super-30 success has made the government of Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh to replicate the model in their respective states. A team of government officials of these states are making a beeline in Patna to study this model of teaching and are preparing a blue prints for its implementation in their states.

Is the Muslim community in India being aspired by the initiative like Super 30? This is a big question mark as I have discovered that there are small and big, more than fifty coaching institutes run by the Muslim community in different parts of the country.

Many of these insinuations are receiving funds from the government, and are making tall claims to run the show and receive more funds but contrary to the claims these institutions are no more than government offices, providing employment and money to those who run them.

A close look at the functioning of Muslim run coaching institute provides a very unrealistic picture. Most of them have taken umpteen numbers of courses and they could hardly do justice to any of them. There is hardly any desire or inclination to provide a specialized training. No wonder, the bright students of the community keep themselves away from such institutions.

The Super 30 has provided a direction how a success story could be scripted in the most humble way. Now the onus is on members of the Muslim community to take this idea forward and replicate it for uplifting the not so privileged members of their faith. This they can do through professional approach and with utmost resolve and commitment and dedication to the cause.

The Rahmani Foundation, Munger, Bihar leads the way by adopting the Super 30 model for under privileged Muslim students of Bihar to crack IITs exams. The Foundations picked-up poor average Muslim candidates from Bihar and coach them in Patna providing them free coaching, lodging and foods to appear IIT Jee test. It costs Rs. 80,000 per year for each student’s expenses.

Additional Director General of Police Abhyanand, who coached and helped 30 students from poor families to join the prestigious IITs is heading this institution. Abhyanand began working for Rahmani 30 after disassociating himself from Super 30. The idea of coaching Muslim students to the police officer struck because Super 30’s successful students included Muslim students.

The Rahmani foundation announced that students who have scored more than 60+ marks in 12th can appear in the test at selected locations throughout Bihar. About 2,300 candidates appeared in the test and finally selected 10 candidates. All the 10 students enrolled in a special coaching institute passed the IIT-JEE exams.

It’s high time that some dynamic persons from the community should come forward and try to start specialized coaching institute in a professional way on the lines of Super 30 and Rahmani 30 in other parts of the country. They should hire the best faculty available and Muslim philanthropist should come forward to foot their bills. Similarly, the food and loading arrangement should made by members of the community.

A good administrator can do wonders, in running such institutions and there is no dearth of them in the community who can produce results. If this happens with missionary zeal, it won’t be long when Indian Muslims can too write a new script that can become a talking point in every nook and corner of the country.

—
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a working journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted atsyedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

 

[Kinetic]

Good to see that poor talented students doing well. Well done Bihar govt.

 

[ankur]

we really need these kind of teachers today .
not like most other coaching centers which takes hefty amount money to give education.

 

[Indiarox]

coaching centers are a waste of time all you need is a good set of text books,internet and interest in subjects .