Bihar honours Super 30 founder with top award

PATNA - Anand Kumar, who founded Bihar’s free coaching centre Super 30 that has helped many to enter the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), was conferred Wednesday the state’s highest award in education.

Anand was given the ‘Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puruskar’ by Governor Devanand Konwar at a function here to mark the education day.

“I am happy to receive the award for my honest effort to make a difference to people who cannot afford quality education,” Kumar told IANS.

“The award is special for me. This is a big honour. My own state has finally recognized me,” he said.

Officials said Anand was chosen for his contribution in teaching children from poor families and preparing them for the IIT-JEE exams. At his school students get free coaching, lodging and food for nine months.

The award was instituted by the Bihar government in 2007. It carries a citation and Rs.2 lakh.

In the last three years, all 30 students of Super 30 have made it to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Since 2003, 212 students have made it to the IITs.

Kumar, who himself missed a chance to study at the Cambridge because he didn’t have enough money, gives full scholarships to every annual batch of 30 students.

They have to pass a competitive test to get into Super 30 and then commit themselves to a year of 16-hour study each day.

Anand, who started the Ramanujam School of Mathematics in 1992, founded the Super 30 in 2002.