The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Ranchi is the cradle for underprivileged tech aspirants. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, July 13: They may hail from the underprivileged sections of society, but their eyes sparkle with the IIT dream.

And now these dreams are coming true in increasing numbers, thanks to the Jawahar Navodaya Vidayalayas.

With more underprivileged students cracking IIT-JEE, the vidyalayas have decided to rope in more professional coaching institutes to provide free training to IIT aspirants from weaker sections of society.

Institutes run by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti cater to bright students of humble rural backgrounds.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Girish Chandra, assistant commissioner (academics) of Navodaya Vidyalaya said, “We are holding talks with various coaching institutes who have shown interest in providing free coaching. We might finalise a deal with the Ranchi-based Akash Coaching Institute next month.”

These coaching sessions, starting at its Ranchi and Bokaro campuses, would be offered to students as part of its “Mission Ascribed Career” programme.

The Dakshana Foundation currently provides free coaching to underprivileged students in rural and semi-urban government schools run by the vidyalaya, helping them prepare for the IIT joint entrance and the All-India Engineering Entrance Examinations.

“Out of our 38 students who took the test this year, 13 have cracked IIT-JEE. With additional help we are hopeful of a higher success rate,” Chandra said.M.N. Banerjee, principal of the vidyalaya at Godda said: “Meritorious yet poor students would benefit from more coaching. Students would undergo a screening before selections.”

There are 565 Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country, 22 are in Jharkhand.