September 22, 2006

Noble is What Noble Does

Anand Kumar does the profession proud! All is not lost; teachers such as he provide hope for our future generations.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good story, but here in China we have famous quotation that I translate
Teachers open the door but you enter by yourself.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting and very creditable. It reminds me of what President Abdul kalam said in his autobuiography " A good student from a bad teacher can learn more than vice-versa". Here the teacher is also good. What I meant was talent can be fouund anywhere and the literal meaning of the word education is to draw out talent that is already in - Make your passion your profession

Anonymous said...

hey that was an amazing tale. thanks for the link..

it tells how u can relive the dreams thru others. good one.

and these days teachers need some real inspiration.. the country's edu system is so flawed that all are concerned abt the input merit (cat scores GRE scores and all XYZ scores) rather than the "output merit" (as to what happens to someone who gets out if an iit or iim.. does he BECOME somethin in life.. who knows! who cares! as long as their is a premier insti tag u neednt worry..competency comes last. My country !)

A.H. said...

An interesting article, but I think I am going to be the dissenting voice here because there are two issues. What an achievement to set up a school and begin to combat deprivation. This has to be applauded; and I do. But what is happening here is just the same as what happens in UK Academies. The school takes those most likely to succeed, least likely to fail. If you are taking the best, and teaching them a specific subject with a narrow goal, well, your success rates ought to be high--ought to be 100%.
This does not prove great teaching ability at all. That is something completely different. And then...nothing to do with the school...simply the article...what a pity that the measure of success will be a high-paid job in a capitalist company! What a measure of educational achievement!

Id it is said...

Eshu,
You have a point there. The measure for educational achievement as cited by the BBC reporter is indeed flawed; finding a well paid job in a capitalist economy is not the best or the only way to guage academic achievement.
However, Mr Kumar could as well have set up this school in a rich neighborhood of one of the metropolitan cities such as Bombay or Delhi, still have been able to pick and choose the brightest of the crop, charged them a leg 'n an arm, gotten a success rate nowhere close to what he is getting in the backwaters of India, and become a celebrity with people flocking to his doors to reserve a seat in his privileged school. The fact that he chose otherwise does say a lot for Mr Kumar, and he deserves to be applauded for it.

In fact I wonder what'd happen if one such Mr. Kumar were to set up a school here in the USA like the one in India.

Mr Anand Kumar is a Bill Gates minus the billions trying to uplift the downtrodden with the only resource he has available, his love for Mathematics and his ability to share and teach it to those who seek it.

A.H. said...

Ah, you make a good counter-point, as always. He could have made himself rich--yes, I did notice how he avoided capitalism and charged an incredible lowly amount for education. We do think the same, though: if only education was less a business and more to do with educating all!

Id it is said...

eshu,
"if only education was less a business and more to do with educating all" exactly my feelings!

Anonymous said...

He really did his parents proud and i hope he continues his hard work even in IIT because i have seen many people who ruin their lives in IIT because of their laziness. But it will be a tough journey for him..he just made the beginning

starry said...

Beautiful and inspiring story. sometimes it takes just one teacher to make a difference in ones life. Kudo's to him for sacrificing and helping the underprivilaged kids.

Dr. Deb said...

I had no idea that so many apply and such a small percentage get in in. Wow, indeed.

Margie said...

Very inspiring story!
Thanks for sharing it!

EXSENO said...

That's a great story. It's nice to hear about something like that for a change.