Super 30

In one of the world's most populated country, where education of children is given more emphasis than any other endeavour by parents, entering a prestigious University is the dream of many youngsters. The Indian Institute of Technology happens to be one such institution -- with over 300,000 students from across India competing for around 5,500 places each year (across all campuses). Selection is based on the highly competitive, science based, entrance exam. Super 30 is a specialist program led, rather interestingly, by a mathematics teacher (Anand Kumar) and a police inspector (Abhayanand) in the city of Patna, aiming to "... hunt for 30 meritorious talents from among the economically backward sections of the society and shape them for India's most prestigious institution -- IIT". Super30 searches for talent amongst the "brick kiln worker, rickshaw puller, landless farmer, roadside vendor and the likes", to bring opportunity to kids from these communities. Since its inception in 2003, Super30 has seen 94 successes out of 120 students who have come through its doors (a remarkable success by any standard). See the video by Tania Rodriguez on Super30, and a special two part programme (part of the "WITNESS" series) from Al-Jazeera TV. Chris Mitchell who produced the film for Al-Jazeera writes, "It really is a story of how people from the lowest caste in India can actually become millionaires and work in the global economy. I hope that people will see how a real effort, commitment, and hard work in extremely difficult circumstances, brings out amazing results." According to Dipak Mishra from the Time of India, "... The 'Super 30' heroes this year include Pranav Prince whose mother works as a tailor to support the family. There are also a nurse's son and an FCI godown watchman's son. Hard work + 'josh' = success, formulated Abhishek Kumar, another Super 30 star who is ranked 327th in the IIT-JEE this year." A remarkable tale of determination, ambition, and helping people help themselves.