Oct 05, 2006

Indian School Offers Educational Opportunity to the Poor

by Laura Starita

Poverty and lack of education is often an endemic pairing in developing countries, one which keeps millions of people poor. But one school in India is seeking to break up that marriage, reports the BBC, and the results have been staggering.

Opened in 2003, the school is located in Bihar, an impoverished region in northeast India with a literacy rate of 47 percent. The school offers a seven-month program that focuses on preparing students for entrance exams to the India Institute of Technology (IIT), the country’s most prestigious engineering school. Thirty spots are available at the Bihar training school every year. Of the 2006 class, 28 students passed the IIT entrance exam.

This is a major victory for an impoverished region where most people belong to the country’s lowest caste, a group that traditionally has had little opportunity for upward social mobility. Bravo to the BBC for bringing this success story to light.

BBC: Helping poor Indians crack toughest test