Eleven-year-old Agastya Jaiswal set a record as the youngest student to clear the class XII school-leaving exam of the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education with an average score of 63 percent. Three years ago, Hyderabad-based Agastya successfully completed the state’s class X board exam with a 7.5 grade point average. This wunderkind is just back from an all-expenses paid 20-day trip to St. Louis, Missouri (USA) on the invitation of the Telugu Association of North America which conferred a ‘Young Achievers Award’ at its 21st national conference on May 28 upon him.

Currently enrolled in the mass communications undergrad degree programme of the hi-tech city’s St. Mary’s College, Agastya isn’t the only gifted one in his family. His elder sister Naina (16) is a table tennis star (ranked #6 worldwide) and the country’s youngest postgraduate. “From early age, our parents encouraged us to ask questions and explore new ideas and concepts. Learning was never a chore but enjoyable and interesting,” he says.

Agastya’s parents — teacher couple Ashwani Kumar and Bhagya Laxmi Jaiswal — while lauding the Telangana government’s decision to relax the minimum age criterion to enable Agastya to write its classes X and XII exams, believe it was their “innovative teaching methods” that helped the 11-year-old achieve this academic feat. 

“Over the years my wife and I have developed a unique pedagogy based on joyful learning that focuses on training the mind and body from early age to master academic skills. It worked for Naina, and now Agastya. We believe it can work for any gifted child,” says Ashwani Kumar.

Agastya’s career goal is to qualify as a doctor but he has to wait for another six years to write the entrance exam for admission into medical school. “When I turn 15, I will need to enroll in a Plus Two (science) programme to qualify to write NEET,” says the whizz.

While the 11-year-old has done his bit to improve the newly formed Telangana state’s education image (ranked #35 of 36 states for its literacy rate of 65 percent) which has waived his higher education tuition fees, it’s high time the Central and state governments wake up to instituting a formal programme to identify and support gifted children. 

Swati Roy