Super 30 founder Anand Kumar receives prestigious award in US
Prominent mathematician and founder of the popular Super 30 educational program, Anand Kumar has been conferred with a prestigious teaching award in the United States, for his contribution towards providing quality education to economically-deprived students. Foundation For Excellence (FFE), on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, presented The Education Excellence Award 2019 to Kumar in San Jose, California, over the weekend.
Foundation For Excellence is a non-profit organization, which provides funds for higher education to Indian students, who are academically gifted, but belong to low-income families. Since its inception in 1994, the foundation has granted over Rs. 162 crore.
Speaking at the event, Kumar, 46, encouraged the Indian community living in the US to support the cause of imparting quality education, with the aim to fight searing societal issues. "Making quality education accessible to the masses will make a huge difference to the world by solving the core issues of poverty, unemployment, population explosion, environmental degradation and a lot more," he said.
Addressing a packed auditorium, Kumar was welcomed with applause, as he went on to say that, "Indians have been doing wonders in different fields across the globe, including USA, and it would be immensely satisfying for them to give something back to their society." To note, Kumar has been running the Super 30 program with an outstanding success rate for over 17 years now.
Furthermore, Kumar, who was recently in the news due to the success of the biopic based on his life, starring Hrithik Roshan, thanked the FFE for providing educational aid to needy students. "Today, the void is getting bigger, which only education can bridge. Give anyone the right opportunity and he or she will excel. It is ultimately the opportunity that matters," he said.
"Through my small endeavor of Super 30, I have experienced how the smile of success on the face of a learner brings cheers not only for the entire family, but triggers hope for the entire community. This is what the world needs," Kumar summed up.
Born and raised in Patna, Kumar started his own coaching institute, the Ramanujan School of Mathematics (RSM) in 1992. However, motivated to help unprivileged students, he launched the Super 30 program in 2002. Under the program, he provides tuition, food, and lodging to 30 selected students each year. Between 2003-2017, 391 out of total 450 students landed in the IITs, through the said program.
