BANGALORE: The Rashtrotthana Parishat on Thursday announced the launch of ‘TAPAS’ which is an initiative along with BASE, an education company, to train 30 students from rural areas of the state for the Indian Institute of Technology’s Joint Entrance Exams.
This is a similar initiative after the ‘Super 30’ programme that takes place in Bihar yearly.
A two year undertaking, ‘TAPAS’ will train students with accommodation in the city till they get admitted in to the IIT’s.
Announcing the initiative, Dinesh Hegde, CEO of the Parishat said, “This initiative is unique because it will focus on SSLC students and will prepare them for the exams.” Adding that many bright children in rural areas tend to look over IIT’s as an option because they think it would cost them a lot. “The youth need to be prepared properly to take over the reigns of the nation,” he said.
The training part will be provided by Be Ahead with Sustained Excellence (BASE) which specialises in training children for IIT exams. “Our aim is to instil confidence in these children. If one of them manages to clear the exams the ripple effect will spread,” said S Nagaraj, BASE.
‘TAPAS’ will only consider 30 male students for the two year training program and will take students who have scored above 80 per cent in their SSLC exams. “This will not be the only criteria, however, since we will also look at the child’s ability to understand concepts and grasp new knowledge,” added Nagaraj. “This is a small number I agree, but we wanted to start small and we will certainly look at increasing the numbers and including female students in the program with the next batch,” said Hegde. Interested students can call 9481201144 or 9481240771.