Anand Kumar’s Super 30: Coaching IIT Aspirants in Bihar

Anand Kumar, founder of Super 30, honored with a prestigious U.S. award for his transformative contribution to education and empowerment of underprivileged IIT aspirants in India.

Truly much has changed for the better in two decades of operation within the thick narrow lanes of Patna, away from the elite coaching centers of India. The crux of this remarkable initiative is a mathematician, Anand Kumar, whose aim is: to provide a level playing field for the underprivileged but brilliant students to choose the IIT-JEE as their toughest competition. Super 30 is more of a lifeline for these students; it is an emblem of hope and a testimony to what vision and relentless pursuit of one determined man is able to accomplish against all odds.

Anand Kumar set up Super 30 in 2002 with a simple, yet profound aim: to identify 30 bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds every year and coach them for IITs, one of the most competitive engineering schools in the world. What set Super 30 apart from any other coaching institute was not just the fee structure (it is absolutely free), but the philosophy behind it. The students do not pay one rupee. Anand and his small team provide food, accommodation, books, and mentoring—everything a student requires to concentrate on nothing but cracking the JEE. 

Kumar himself came from a modest background. Son of a postal clerk, he suffered the stroke of dire economic hardship. He was bright in mathematics, even had a seat in Cambridge University, and he let that go because his family could not afford it. Rather than wallow in disappointment, he decided to remain in India and create opportunities for others like him—young minds brimming with potential but chained by poverty.

Super 30 is an intense program, with discipline and rigorous focus that allow aspiring human beings to totally believe in themselves. Anand Kumar personally teaches the students, often for 16 hours a day. Academically and emotionally, the students ought to be fully prepared to tackle the high-academic-pressure challenge of the IIT entrance exam. They live together, learn together, and are nurtured like a family. What differentiates them is their grit. Many came from villages where there is no electricity and study materials are a luxury. But in the Super 30 classrooms, every student is considered a future engineer, irrespective of what their past was like.

Super 30 has yielded astonishing results. Each year, most of the Super 30 students secure admission into IITs. The success stories are inspiring and varied, from children of daily wage workers, rickshaw pullers, and farmers who once dreamed of quality education to those walking along the halls of India's top engineering insitutions. These accomplishments affect their own lives and that of their whole families and community, thereby breaking the chains of generational poverty.

Anand Kumar has received global coverage for his efforts, with commendations coming from international media, educationalists, and former U.S. President Barack Obama. Bollywood's film Super 30 starring Hrithik Roshan has made Anand Kumar's life more glamorous, adding further imprinting of his mission's potent impact. Even with fame, he stays true to the cause-teaching, mentoring, and inspiring.

Super 30 truly exemplifies educational fairness in a regime oftentimes condemned for being inaccessible to the poor and tilted towards the privileged. The program proves one thing: talent resides everywhere; opportunity is what is missing most times. Anand Kumar fills this gap, with heart and relentless dedication, batch by batch. His journey is not merely about coaching for IIT; it's about instilling belief, building resilience, and opening doors that society often leaves closed. Super 30 goes beyond being a mere program; it is an awe-inspiring reminder that true education does not teach, it transforms.