Super 30 multiplies to districts

With the sixth batch of students trained by him and mathematician Anand Kumar as part of Super 30 in Patna all clearing this year’s IIT-JEE exams, Abhayanand had bid the project goodbye. Saying he had nothing more to prove at the centre, he had said that he wanted to take the experiment in “social laboratory” to other marginalised groups.

The first stop was the almost defunct hospital of the Bihar Military Police, which this police officer-cum-physics teacher revived with the help of the constabulary. And now, he is ready to start more Super 30s.

Says Abhayanand: “We conducted physics, chemistry and mathematics tests this August and selected 10 Muslim students (all boys) for Rehmani 30, 17, including two girls, at Gaya, 13 students, including two girls, at Biharsharif and eight at Bhagalpur.”

These students will be trained for the IIT-JEE examination and provided free accommodation for the eight months (September to April) running up to it. Community funding (Rs 5-7 lakh for an entire session at a centre) will help run the programme.

At “Magadh Super 30” at Dandibagh, Gaya, about a dozen businessmen and doctors pooled in Rs 5 lakh to support the students for the entire session. “It was very easy to sell the concept. The community just lapped it up after a single canvassing,” says Abhayanand.

At Biharsharif, Arvind Kumar, who runs a school, has volunteered to support “Nalanda Super 30” along with some doctors; while two retired professors of Bhagalpur College of Engineering have been teaching mathematics and physics at “Ang Super 30”.

Though the groups are called “Super 30”, the numbers have been far less until now. They are to be chosen only after they clear the required standards, says the ADGP.

The students, from mostly poor backgrounds, are allowed to leave for homes only during festivals. The police officer wants his students to stay away from media glare until they become successful. “I am in-charge of academic activities, the managerial part is being taken care of by groups,” he adds. While Abhayanand holds classes at Rehmani 30 for physics himself, he visits the other centres once or twice in a month. “I also take classes on mobile phone for students of Bhagalpur, Nalanda and Gaya,” he says.