Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): At a time when many students are busy chasing grades, placements and personal goals, around 100 Gen Z students of the prestigious Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal, are proving that success is sweeter when shared. These young mentors are helping underprivileged school students prepare for medical and engineering entrance exams while also guiding them to ace their Board examinations.
Every day around 4 pm, after finishing their own classes, these students head to the hostel of PM Shri Navin Kanya School located near the college. Their mission? To make quality education accessible to students who otherwise may not have access to expensive coaching institutes.
From teaching Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology to clearing doubts and sharing exam strategies, these MANIT students are creating their own version of a “peer-powered coaching ecosystem”.
Avantikulam: A Gen Z movement born during Covid
The initiative, called Avantikulam, takes inspiration from Avantika — the ancient name of Ujjain, once a major centre of learning. The club is running under the guidance of Manit Professor Savita Dixit.
The project started in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic when online education became the new normal.
What began as a small online effort has now evolved into a full-fledged offline movement.
The seniors who started the project have graduated, but they ensured the legacy continued. Passing the baton to their juniors, they made sure the initiative did not lose momentum.
In true Gen Z style, the students didn’t just “keep the vibe alive” — they levelled up the project.
They started encouraging talented students from tribal regions of Madhya Pradesh to shift to Bhopal for focused preparation. Through donation drives, they arrange accommodation and basic facilities for these students.
Ramnarayan Bilai |
“We conduct donation drives to support their lodging and boarding. Many of them stay in rented accommodations where our seniors live in the city,” says Ramnarayan Bilai (20) from Bhilwara, Rajasthan, coordinator of the Avantikulam Project and a fourth-year Electronics and Communication Engineering student at MANIT.
Smiladeep Kaur |
Smiladeep Kaur (20) from Punjab - a second-year Mechanical Engineering student at MANIT-Bhopal, says she is glad that she is a part of the initiative. She teaches chemistry to the students. “No matter how tired I am, I feel full of energy after my class,” she says.
Anurag Kumar Mishra |
Anurag Kumar Mishra (19), a second-year Computer Engineering student from Madhepura (Bihar), who teaches Physics, says, “I don’t want the kids to face the problems I faced. We have reached a station in life. As such, it is our responsibility, to work for the uplift of the less fortunate ones,” he says.
