Nirbhay Thakkar and his parents

AHMEDABAD: When children of his age furiously prepared for class X board exams, 15-year-old Nirbhay Thakkar completed his BE (Electrical) course. In October, Nirbhay became the youngest engineering graduate from the Gujarat Technological University ( GTU ). His accelerated education started from class VIII. After passing the class VII exam as a state board student from Jamnagar, where his father was posted in a private sector firm as an engineer, Nirbhay completed class VIII to X in six months and XI and XII in the next three months under the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) system run by Cambridge International Examinations.

These accomplishments have been registered by a boy who was found 'weak' by teachers in the senior KG. "I was surprised by the remark when they suggested that and I took it upon myself to get the best out of my child," said his Nirbhay's father, Dhaval Thakkar. "While the conventional examinations focus merely on testing students' memory, we devised a method with which Nirbhay truly became fearless about marks and focused instead on learning - not just by reading but also listening, visualizing, and finding applications of concepts. Thus, he could learn much in short time."

Nirbhay's father, an engineer, and his mother, who is a doctor, represented his case as a special one to the GTU, Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) and All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Nirbhay was thus admitted to SAL College of Engineering .

Dr Rupesh Vasani, the principal of the college, said that a special schedule was prepared for the fast-track course in coordination with faculty members. "The course is credit-based and Nirbhay spends nine hours at the college," he said. "According to the GTU norms, the paper was set and results were declared only for him."

Nirbhay said that it was the sense of wonderment towards the world around instilled by his father helped him prepare for the subjects over the years. Dhaval Thakkar had left job at the age of 36 years to concentrate on the child. "I intend to complete 10 degrees of engineering over next three years once the BE is completed as there are a number of common subjects," said Nirbhay who enjoys football, chess, or swimming in his leisure time. "As I intend to go into research and product development, the degrees will make my approach multi-disciplinary."

Dr Navin Sheth, the vice-chancellor of GTU, said that Nirbhay would be the youngest engineering degree holder in the university's history. When questioned about the multiple-degree plan for Nirbhay, he said that the permission would be granted on the basis of relevant UGC guidelines. Dhaval Thakkar said that no child is dull or bright in studies - all depends on how the child's mind is programmed for excellence. He said that he would like to reach out to more students with his theory. As his graduate project, Nirbhay is developing a windmill based on maglev (magnetic levitation) technology which can remain functional and generate energy even with minimal wind. In the future, he wishes to work with the defence sector to develop next-gen weaponry.

Read this story in Bengali

