`Super 30` students can now study at Tokyo University

Patna: The highly acclaimed `Super 30` educational programme which trains students from economically backward sections for the IIT-JEE, on Wednesday entered into an agreement with University of Tokyo which would sponsor study of its students in Japan.

The pact was reached here during a meeting between Anand Kumar, the founder of Super 30, and Yoshino Hiroshi, Director, The University of Tokyo. As per the tie-up, the University of Tokyo would sponsor study of at least one student of Super 30. The sponsorship will start with admission of Indian students from October 2013, Yoshino said. "University of Tokyo is reaching an understanding with the Patna-based mathematical group (Super 30) because of its remarkable performance of training economically poor students to qualify in top institutions like IIT," he said. Yoshino said the Japanese government Broadcast Corporation (NHK) ran a programme on Super 30 under the heading "Indian shock" to highlight the success of the mathematical club. The Tokyo University Director said the engagement with Super 30 was part of Japanese government programme "Global 30" to increase flow of Indian students there. "Presently, out of 1.4 lakh foreign students annually coming to Japan, India`s contribution is only 600. Japan wishes to increase (its) number of foreign students to three lakh by 2020 which can be achieved by raising flow of students from India, particularly in the field of science and technology," he said. Kumar said the offer from Tokyo university was encouraging. "This will open avenues for our students in foreign country," he said. `Super 30` is an initiative of mathematician Anand Kumar in Bihar which trains 30 poor students every year for IIT-JEE out of which a majority have so far succeeded in the test. PTI