Coaching centers in the northern Indian city of Kota will have stricter rules because more students are taking their own lives. BBC Hindi journalist Vineet Khare spoke with students who have traveled to Kota in order to receive extra coaching for their entrance exams in prestigious colleges. Many of these students feel a lot of pressure to succeed.
Vijay, who is 21 years old but that’s not his real name, did not pass the entrance exam for medical college three times. He thought that going to an expensive coaching center in Kota, a city in the state of Rajasthan in northern India, would help him pass the test.
Just like many other students, Vijay thought of Kota as a place where his dreams could come true.
The city has big signs that display the names, pictures, and rankings of students who have done well. Over 200,000 students, including some as young as 13, come here to study and stay in hostels or privately rented homes.
This place is famous for its educational centers that help young people get ready for India’s tough entrance exams for top medical and engineering colleges. There are 12 big learning centers and at least 50 smaller ones.
Feeling proud, overwhelmed, and worried.
Indian parents feel a lot of pride when their children get accepted into prestigious colleges, and they don’t view failure in a positive way. The institutes ask for over 100,000 Indian rupees ($1,200, £1,000) per year, which is a lot of money for many families. Getting into a good engineering or medical college can lead to a well-paid job.
Vijay’s family lives in a rural area and does not have much money. His dad is a farmer and he was really worried about making his parents unhappy.
He confesses that in the past, he would lie to his parents about his poor test scores.
He says that he started feeling very worried and it was causing him to have headaches and pain in his chest. And it was when he didn’t pass his second exam that he almost tried to end his own life.
“He said that he felt like he didn’t have any other choice. ”
I spent my parents’ money and ruined their reputation.
“He says that the stress of the situation made me think about hurting myself, but I didn’t tell anyone. ”
Vijay says he changed his opinion after he saw a famous Bollywood actress, Deepika Padukone, talking about her sadness. The actress talked openly about how working too much is sometimes seen as a good thing and how it can harm mental health. He was encouraged to ask for help because she was honest and open. Vijay is currently receiving help for his mental health and he is trying to live one day at a time.
Other students also tell me about how difficult it is to live alone, the high expectations that their parents have for them, the pressure they feel from their friends, the intense competition, and having to work for 14 hours each day. In Kota, over 100 students have died by suicide in the last 10 years. This year, at least 25 students have taken their lives, which is the highest number in one year so far, says the police data.
One of the suicides in the city happened while I was visiting. A 15-year-old girl took her own life.
We don’t know why she decided to end her own life. “Her father told me on the phone while he was traveling to Kota after learning about her death, that she never told us about any stress related to her studies. ” However, she did discuss student suicides in Kota. He said he told her to concentrate on her studies instead.
A local newspaper called the Hindustan Times looked at information from the government and found that in 2023, many young boys under the age of 18 in Kota, India took their own lives. These boys were studying for medical tests and came from poor families living far away in the northern parts of the country.
Adarsh Raj was a student from a farming family in Kota. He had a dream of becoming a doctor but sadly, he ended his life in August when he was 18 years old. His family is extremely sad and upset. We did not try to make him do something he didn’t want to do. His uncle Harishankar told me that they think his depression was caused by getting low grades on his tests, and that’s why he did something extreme. “But killing oneself is not the answer. ”
Rules, hotlines, and classes to support mental well-being.
The government of Rajasthan has made new rules for coaching institutes in Kota because there have been more student suicides lately.
On 29 September, it released guidelines that say schools should not accept students under the age of 14 (before ninth grade) and should not share test scores with others.
We will focus more on mental health workshops and programs for students. We are working on a plan to put up more posters to advertise a helpline that helps students.
In June, a group of 11 individuals, led by senior police officer Chandrasheel, formed a team to find students who are showing signs of depression.
He says that we visit hostels and talk to people to see if any students are acting differently. If we see warning signs, we keep an eye on the student, talk to them, communicate with the person in charge of the hostel, and talk to their parents.
The Covid pandemic has caused people to be isolated from each other.
According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the fourth most common cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 worldwide.
Over 13,000 students in India died by suicide in 2021, which is a 4. 5% increase from 2020, as per government data.
A teacher said that there can be a lot of kids in a class at a coaching center, up to 300. Sometimes, the teacher doesn’t know all the names of the students, and this can make the kids feel alone and left out.
The Covid pandemic and the various times when people were not allowed to go out have caused a really big change.
Nitin Vijay, the head of Motion Education, a popular coaching center in India, says that students who have experienced Covid-19 are now less able to handle stress compared to before the pandemic. “But he says that it will get better as time goes on. ”