Patna, Feb. 23: Is India the next big global IT destination? Is Bihar substantially contributing to the education boom? And how can someone like Anand Kumar, of Super 30 fame, nurture talent from rural Bihar and help them make a forceful statement?
These questions and more have brought former Miss Japan Norika Fujiwara to Ramanujam School of Mathematics, 94 of whose “Super 30” students, mostly drawn from backward classes of rural Bihar, have made it to the IIT from 2003 to 2006.
Fujiwara, 35, who visited the institute at Kumhrar in the Bihar capital, shot Kumar teaching his students.
Speaking to the media through an interpreter, she said: “I read about some Super 30 on the Internet and was impressed with Kumar’s talent hunt in rural Bihar.”
The tally of students cracking the IIT entrance test rose to 28 in 2006 from 26 in 2005, 22 in 2004 and 18 in 2003.
The Japanese model-actress, who is making a two-hour documentary film on the IT boom in India, will cover the Nalanda ruins to put the country’s “glorious educational past” in perspective.
“It’s a great thing to happen when students of Bihar rise above the caste-ridden structure and poverty to make it to IITs,” said the 1992 Miss Japan, adding that Indian students are “very hard-working and focused”.
She, however, evaded questions on comparisons between Japanese and Indian students.
A Japanese television channel had made a documentary on the success story of Kumar’s school so did BBC. “I have been humbled by the overwhelming response to our institute, which also has the support of additional director-general of police Abhayanand,” said Kumar.
“Foreign film-makers are keen on showcasing the success stories of Bihar. They are probably surprised to see a good number of Bihar students making it big in the IT sector,” he added.
Kumar, who was invited to deliver a speech at IIM like Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, hails from Devraha village in Patna district, 25 km from here. His father Rajendra Prasad, an accountant, died 12 years ago. Kumar’s mother Jayanti Devi started a small business to support the family after Prasad’s death.
