The HinduTORCHBEARER: Anand Kumar. Photo: G. Moorthy
Maths wizard and Super 30 founder Anand Kumar speaks his mind out on society, education and innovation
‘Where there is a will, there is a way'— is perhaps easier said than done. We always need someone to show the way. Anand Kumar has been that someone in many lives.
Through an innovative initiative called ‘super 30', he has towed hundreds of underprivileged students out of poverty and led them into IITs. What started as a classroom activity in Bihar has now sparked into a revolution echoing across the globe.
“Education is an empowering weapon and every individual's right. Economic status shouldn't come in the way” asserts, Anand, in town for the National Students' Quality Circles Convention, organized by the Lakshmi Vidya Sangham.
Crazy about mathematics, Anand displayed extraordinary skills in solving problems even as a child. As a student of Patna Science College in 1992, when he started the Ramanujam school of Mathematics, a club, he had little idea that it would take shape into a full-fledged training programme.
“After my graduation, I got a merit seat at Cambridge University for higher studies. But, having lost my father early and clutched tight in the claws of poverty, I had no choice but to drop the offer” he narrates his misfortune.
Fuelled by sheer grit, he surged with new enthusiasm and took it up as a challenge to change norms of the society and destiny. This led to the formation of Super 30, an initiative that provides free coaching, food and lodging to 30 talented students from financially weak backgrounds annually. Eligibility to enter the programme is Class XII pass and poor family status.
Every year, Super 30 receives 3,000 applications of which 30 real talents are selected through an entrance test. The exam has 40 objective questions from Class XI syllabus of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics but the paper is set in a tricky way to check thinking skills. Anand handpicks and trains them for IIT JEE entrance exam.
Old students of Super 30 also take up the responsibility of teaching new batches. Currently, Super 30 has four permanent teachers. Anand rues the poor participation of girl children and hopes to see more of them in his future super batches.
Anand runs his pet programme with the money earned from tutoring school students, thrice a week. His mother Jayanti Devi cooks food for the entire lot and his brother Pranav Kumar looks after the Management. He tutors four batches of 500 pupils at a time charging a nominal Rs.4,000 per student per year.
So far, 212 students from Super 30 have got into IITs, which includes all 30 from last three batches. “We did not reach here on a bed of roses. We face opposition even now. But when success brings a smile on the faces of these poor students, depressions fade,” he says, remembering one of his talented students Shyam who was frustrated with the crime-infested society and wanted to enter Naxalism. But after joining Super 30 he got into IIT, and today earns a pay packet of Rs.10 lakhs per month.
He attributes his achievements to unconventional approach in teaching, passion and hard work and suitable learning environment. Unlike other teachers, Anand teaches his students to look at a maths problem from various angles and come up with multiple ways to solve.
“At super 30 we just prepare them for IIT but will like to introduce life skills too. But students are left with no extra time to indulge in other things except studies”. According to him, once the person reaches competitive places like IIT, skills bloom on their own.
As a tip Anand urges every teacher to be devoted to the cause of preparing students for life, “Every parent wants a good teacher for their kids but none want them to become teachers. But it is in the hands of teachers to motivate students to take up teaching”.
“My strife has taken a new turn. Dreams have grown bigger and making them into reality seems nearer. I would like to open a school for the poor” he beams. Having not taken a penny from any Government agencies or NGOs, Anand is now ready to accept any offer of land to open his dream school. Now super 30 is internationally recognized and Anand is a known face among India's stardom, but this does not give him a high but keeps him more grounded and rooted to his cause. Being the God and guide, he has redirected many lost lives into chapters of ‘happy ever afters'.
