Coolie worker's son earns Japanese scholarship

Super 30 is known for providing free coaching and assistance to underprivileged students to help them crack the entrance for prestigious IITs.

"Abhisek Gupta has made it to University of Tokyo for international programme on environmental sciences at College of Arts and Sciences, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo," Super 30 founder director Anand Kumar told IANS here on Thursday.

Authorities of the University of Tokyo offered admission to Gupta, son of a low wage-earner generator operator, under the STEM Kikuchi-UTokyo scholarship programme, Kumar said.

The coaching institute selects 30 students every year from underprivileged sections of the society. They are taught for around one year free of cost to clear the entrance test for IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). In the past 13 years, 308 of the institute's 360 students have cleared it.

"The cost of study in Japan's premiere university cannot be incurred by Gupta's family members. This has become possible due to his hard work and good performance, besides interest shown by the Tokyo authorities," said Kumar.

According to a letter by the university, Gupta has been given a four-year scholarship which covers admission fee, four years of tuition, and monthly allowance.

Kumar said the university authorities visited Super 30 four to five times last year and invited him to Japan.

Abhisek Gupta's father Dilip Gupta is a generator operator in Gurgaon, who could not pursue studies even up to Class 10.

"It is something that I could not even dream about. I can only afford two square meal for my family, but now Abhisek's life will change," his father said.