Cerebral Shangrila

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

IIT's - Efficient supply from a Tiny school in Bihar

BusinessWeek profiles this amazing tiny school from Bihar (Patna) which offers free IIT coaching to 30 poor students every year. Last year, 22/30 made it to the IIT's.What could be a more nobler initiative than recognizing talent and fostering it ? Kudos to the School !

BusinessWeek reports, " Every April, some 230,000 Indian youths sharpen their pencils and sit for the intensely competitive entrance exam to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) -- the seven prestigious schools that train India's top-notch engineers and entrepreneurs. After the grueling six-hour test, only 5,000 students are offered a place in the IITs. Most come from middle-class backgrounds and prepare for the exams through private coaching. But in the past few years, a small group of desperately poor, talented students have made it into the IITs, thanks to the Ramanujan School of Mathematics.

The school, named after a famous Indian mathematician, is even more intense than the IITs themselves. Located in Patna, the capital of Bihar, one of India's least developed states, the Ramanujan School trains just 30 students a year to take the IIT exam. Anand Kumar, 33, a local mathematician, and Abhayanand, 52, Patna's deputy director general of police and a lover of physics, founded the school in 2003 to help promising locals get ahead in the caste-based society.

They scoured Bihar's least privileged communities for 30 bright students to coach for the exam, providing free lessons and housing. They call their group the Super 30. "Intelligence is not birth-specific," says Abhayanand. In the first year, 16 of the group made it into the IITs. The next year, 22 made it. "This year," Kumar says confidently, "all 30 will get into the IITs."

5 Comments:

  • You made my day Sir !! This is the kind of news that makes me proud to be an Indian. If you want to see Indian shining....this is a prime example. This is truly India shining. To go to the lowest strata of society in a state where casteism and pverty are rampant, and to produce the brightest minds.....rough diamonds and then polsih them to compete at the highest level........This is well and truly India shining. Jai Hind !!!

    By Blogger Sandeep, at 11:06 PM  

  • It is high time we wake up to the fact that getting into IITs is not the panacea. It would be in shaping citizens who can give back much more than what they take from society. It is good to know that the less privileged but bright children are being selected and coached to get into IITs. But what is their goal once they finish IITs? Does IIT ensure that these bright engineers give back to their society which nurtured them?? That is the bigger question to ask.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:12 PM  

  • s&eep - thanks. Absolutely.

    Anon - The post is more about aiding people achieve their potential. Isn't that one of the noblest aim of mankind ?

    By Blogger Cogito, at 10:29 PM  

  • Hats off to those 2 guys especially the Cop after all those tough years dealing with hard core criminals
    All of us need to think of doing something on these lines back home

    By Blogger RK, at 2:28 AM  

  • If one is really interested in the subject, entrance tests will not be a problem . One will be able to score a good rank even without attending costly coaching classes. Books are available in plenty at reasonable rates. Here are some free sites for those who want to cut down costs: physicsplus.blogspot.com
    goodguide.blogspot.com
    entrancephysics.blogspot.com
    -VM

    By Blogger MV, at 3:54 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home