Though school in the village of Akrabad in Uttar Pradesh was free, stationery was not. Nadar set up the academy in 2009 in Uttar Pradesh, after seeing how other states with elite schools were taking only wealthy urban students. There was little provision for poor gifted children in rural areas, where more than 60% of Indians live. “Asking a farmer in Uttar Pradesh to send his children, particularly daughters, to a residential school far from home is forbidding,” says Malhotra. “Everything I have today and will ever have is because of this school and this once-in-a-lifetime chance I was given.

Source: The Guardian July 26, 2021 05:26 UTC