bhatt hembram kshirodini sahoo nivedita panda satyajit sahoo subhendu parida parveen sahil kajal vijay makwana have one thing in common they all come from deprived backgrounds and have passed neet and jee with flying colours despite the lack of resource access to digital education and financial difficulties they were able to crack the most crucial entrance examsthese students who are firstgeneration learners born to parents working as farmers daily wage labourers taxi and auto drivers vegetable and roadside vendors betel shop owners among others thanks to the initiatives by a few ngos and governmentfunded organisations these meritorious students from economically weaker section ews made it to the top institutions including iits nits and medical collegesconfidence buildingkeeping the underprivileged students motivated and confident is the biggest challenge for us most of them feel unsure about their abilities despite having the subject knowledge most of them fail to gather the courage to respond confidently says super 30 fame mathematician anand kumar who begins the teaching by giving pep talk and making the students watch motivational videos to help them realise how getting best education has nothing to do with ones economic statusajay bahadur singh who runs zindagi foundation in bhubaneswar gives more importance to build confidence initially the challenge is to make them realize that they are at par with their urban counterparts it takes us a few months to make them confident the covid19 has added an insult to the injuries of these students grappling with limited resources says singh he adds that arranging fees for higher education is another area where we have to help themthe pandemic and ensuing lockdown derailed the teachinglearning for those who cannot digital infrastructure seamless internet connectivity during the lockdown some of them lost their hopes and were unsure of clearing the exam singh addsbeing the firstgeneration learners these students are dependent on us for any kind of support assistance and doubt clearing says singh access to quality education for everyone is the only way to eradicate poverty and calls for similar initiatives everywhere in the countrysocial entrepreneurshipnaveen mishra president vikalpa foundation based in haryanas rewari district call these initiative as the need of the hour we need more of these social initiatives to help those who cannot afford expensive coaching to prepare for medical and engineering examinations says mishra who too was supported by his teacher while studying at iit delhi in 20022006i secured admission in iit but meeting the expenses was a difficult for my family thanks to my teachers who offered me monetary help while studying at iit delhi says mishra who now helps government school students in haryana to prepare them for exam under the super 100 programme supported by the state governmentcandidates shortlisted under the super100 programme get free lodging and food from the haryana government and the teaching and training part is offered by vikalpa foundationas many as 23 out of the 37 students of the super100 programme have cracked the joint entrance examination jee advanced held for admission