Super 40: Army training Kashmiris to crack engineering entrance exams

Srinagar: Army Chief Bipin Rawat today met and complimented the students from the Army’s “Super 40” coaching initiative that has been training local children to take engineering entrance examination.

The Super 40 initiative for coaching the youth of Jammu & Kashmir for engineering entrance exams broke all previous records when 26 boys and 2 girls from the State cracked the IIT-JEE Mains Exam 2017. Nine students have successfully qualified the IIT Advanced Exam, the results of which were declared on 11 June 17.

The coaching is conducted at Srinagar by the Indian Army, its training partner Centre for Social Responsibility & Learning (CSRL) and Petronet LNG. This was also the first batch in which 5 girls from the Kashmir valley were coached, out of which 2 qualified in the JEE Mains.

The coaching and accommodation is provided free of cost to the students and is sponsored under the CSR initiative by Petronet LNG.

The initiative Super 40 began in 2013. Our source in the Army said that the schedule of the training programme went undisturbed despite the unstable law-and-order situation in the State caused by frequent terrorist attacks, continuous incidents of stone-pelting and counter-actions by the defence forces.

The Army selects the candidates through an entrance test and interview conducted at various colleges throughout Jammu & Kashmir in the months of April and May.

“This year’s outstanding result is the testimony of careful selection, excellent coaching, personalised guidance and conducive living and study environment provided at zero cost to the students,” an Army spokesperson said.

“Apart from IIT’s, the students of Kashmir Super-40 have excelled in various other engineering colleges exams throughout the country,” the spokesperson said.

The initiative has so far seen a success rate of 78%, which “is at par with the best IIT coaching centres in the country,” the spokesperson said. Enthused by the outcome, the Army has increased the capacity of the Super 40 classes to a batch of 50 students a year.