Gaya: Bunkaron has no good school or any coaching center. Yet this village near Gaya in the eastern Indian state of Bihar made history recently.

Eighteen students from the village cleared the national Joint Entrance Exam for admission to Indian Institute of Technology colleges.

Only 26,000 among 1,356,000 students, who appeared this year, could clear the exam, known as IIT JEE. The exam provides admission to colleges under Indian Institute of Technology and National Institute of Information Technology.

The 18 students from Bunkaron topped the list.

While other students took special coaching from professionals to clear the exam, the Bonkaron kids relied on each other to cross the barrier.

Although they were from poor background, the youth never allowed poverty to hinder their goal – clear the prestigious exam on top. They now plan to join top colleges in the country.

They made their parent and village proud.

One of the students is a girl who said in an interview that girls are not behind boys in achieving their goal. Girls can also study and bring pride to their parents and country, she added.

Every year at least ten students from the village clear the IIT exam, said Rahul Kumar, one of the successful students. He had secured 980 in the entrance exam this year.

What makes the students’ achievement remarkable is that they have done this despite having no good school or coaching center in the village.

Kumar credited the village background for their success. “The village environment is so good. All the students in the village are helpful to one other.” He also said the students take their studies seriously and help each other in clearing doubts. Such mutual help has helped them to clear the difficult exam easily.

“Cooperation and mutual help, not competition, is our mantra,” Kumar explained indicating a new trend in a competitive world. He said they did not try to do better than others, but instead each helped the other to make the exam easy.

Kumar, whose uncle works in the United States after clearing the same exam years ago, said all IIT aspirants in the village had formed a study circle. They spent about 3-10 hours a day to study for the exam.

The villagers, most of the engaged in power look business, encourage their children to take education seriously. They decided to stress children’s education as their top priority 15 years ago.

Villagers say their children’s strong determination and will power have helped them earn national recognition as the media flashed their success as top news.