The capital of suicide Kota is making its position stronger

2 students took their lives by suicide in Kota with a gap of less than 4 hours. Administration has restricted coaching institutions to conduct any exams for the next 2 months. Kota has witnessed 23 deaths so far this year which makes 1 death in every 10 days.

Kota,  a city where parents send their children to excel in studies, to clear competitive exams is nothing but a city witnessing deaths of children who could have been a bright future of this country.

WHY suicide?

Students go to Kota to prepare for NEET, JEE and other competitive exams like UPSC. Kota was known for having an environment which would assist students to stay motivated for studies. Let us try to understand what has gone wrong?

1. Fees-

Coaching of exams like NEET and JEE  would cost something between Rs1.5Lakh to 3Lakh per year. The cost of living is not included in this. Hostel/PG rooms cost somewhere around Rs15,000 per month which would be Rs1,80,000 for a year. The total cost for 1 year can go around 5 Lakhs. Investing Rs5 Lakhs in one child  gets tough for parents from lower to middle class families since they have to take care of the expenses of other family members including other children. Students are aware of the financial burden their families have to face to take care of their education, which builds guilt in them.

2. Burden of studies-

It is well known that competition for these exams is tough. The syllabus of these exams is extremely complex and vast. Covering such syllabus will need investing majority of time and attention. Students have siting(time they study) of 8-10 hours per day apart from the time they study in the coaching institute.

The time devoted to study would add up to around 15 hours per day. It is important to understand that there is a difference in studying a subject and the brain's ability to grasp all that information. This amount of time would make students exhausted, but they still continue to exhaust themselves just because they  do not want to be left behind anyone. These things lead mental stress.

3. Lack of social circle-

Ambitious students in Kota generally have a mindset to not have a social circle of friends which could possibly divert their minds from studying. Having a social circle consisting of friends with whom you can talk, laugh, cry and share thoughts makes lives less lonely.

It is a fact that human beings are social animals by nature, and to take away that aspect of our innate nature would certainly harm the mental health. It is not possible for a student to not face any issues regarding studies, stress, exams or even money. In those situations, if they have a friend, they can at least share their burden, which would make them feel at ease. Therefore, parents should not stop their children to have friends, instead they should encourage their children to have friends who will not be a bad influence.

4. The frequency of tests/exams-

Every coaching institute consistently conducts exams/tests on weekly or even monthly basis on topics that are covered. Now here it is important to know that although exams are necessary to test knowledge, but the purpose of exams is to tell that there is a need of improvement. This idea of exam does not exist, which means that students are not able to improve themselves but rather feel bad for their results. The motivation to improve and the environment to improve is missing. The fact that comparison is the reality of Kota, students often feel low when they compare their grades to others.

Another important side of this frequency is that, students are just constantly under stress of exam, every week they have to perform well, every week they have to study hard,  every week they just have one thing in mind, that is test. They have to relentlessly face stress. Where is the moment of relief when a student can breath and take rest?

5. Lacking awareness about alternative careers-

One of the major reason why students take up the challenge of clearing these exams is because of the fantasy of these exams and the status these careers bring. Other careers such as that of a scientist and a researcher do not even make to the lists of careers because there exists a lack of knowledge. Clearing these exams becomes a dead end for students.

6. Awareness about mental health and stress management-

Children leave their home at the age of 15,16 or 17, a time when their body is going to a lot of changes, their mental health is also at a vulnerable stage. During this time, the amount of pressure that is built is dangerous. The age of 16,17yrs old is not an age when a teenage gets mentality mature, and is able to take up any kind of stress.

Therefore it is important that our society rethinks what is desirable and what should be prioritized, children's mental health, their physical well being or pushing them into a vicious cycle of exams, stress and depression? It is important for the country to bring awareness about mental health of students, awareness about alternative careers, awareness about the stress faced by children in Kota. Only then can we prevent the students from taking such drastic steps.

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