Twenty-six out of 30 students from Bihar's 'Super 30'academy has cracked IIT-JEE (Advanced) this year, the results of which were published on Sunday.
The institute, founded by math wizard Anand Kumar in 2002, trains 30 meritorious students from underprivileged sections of the society for JEE exams.
"It is immensely satisfying to see students from the remotest corners, where winds of development have not reached yet and life continues to be a struggle, competing with the best and the privileged lot," Kumar said.
Onirjit Goswami, Suraj Kumar, Yash Kumar and Suryakant Das - all from extremely humble backgrounds - are among those who have cleared the JEE test from the institute this year.
Goswami, son of a small factory worker in Kanpur, said he always wanted to do well in life but cracking IIT was a distant dream.
"I can never forget the kind of support Anand Sir has provided to students like me," he said.
A resident of Giridih in Jharkhand, Suraj Kumar's parents have never been to school. His father, a landless farmer, is overwhelmed by the fact that his son has cracked the exam.
"Anand Sir not just mentored us free of cost, he also boosted our morale. My father does not even know what IIT stands for, but he is happy that I cracked a tough exam," Suraj Kumar said.
Yash Kumar and Suryakant Das, too, owed their success to their tutor.
In the past 16 years, around 500 students from the institute have qualified for admission to IITs.
During the training process, Kumar provides food and accommodation to all 30 students round the year. His family members, too, support his programme in every way possible.
As many of them are "first-generation learners", this success means a lot to them, the math wizard, who entered the Limca Book of World Records in 2009 for his contributions, said here today.
He plans to take his initiative to students across the country.
"I wish to to expand Super 30, but there are various constraints. The demand for similar initiatives has grown so much across the country that I will have to find a way to reach out to more students. Super 30 will soon organise a screening test and the information will be made available on the institute's website," Anand Kumar said.
The success of Super 30 and its inspiring track record has earned the mathematician accolades not just at home, but also on foreign lands. Newsweek Magazine had included his institute in the list of four most innovative schools in the world.
A film on Super 30, starring Hrithik Roshan in the role of Anand Kumar, is expected to hit theatres early next year.
