A 17-year-old student named Aditya Seth committed suicide in June after moving to Kota this year to study for a medical entrance exam. In a suicide note that he left behind, he claimed that he had committed suicide of his own free will.
This incident is one of the 19 suicides that have occurred in Kota, Rajasthan, this year.
With an estimated 300 institutes, Kota has quickly established itself as a coaching center. The coaching ecosystem that has grown in Kota is crucial to several sectors.
But it has also brought with it the reputation as the "suicide capital" of the state.
However, parents keep sending their kids to Kota's coaching schools. This demonstrates the dichotomy between young people's rising expectations and the strong scholastic pressure that drives some of them to extreme measures.
India Today examines the statistics underlying the alarmingly high rate of suicides in Kota, Rajasthan.
In Kota's coaching facilities, more than 1 lakh students were enrolled as of 2021. In 2023, this figure increased to above 2 lakh.
Kota saw a 43% growth in student enrollment between 2021 and 2023.
On the other hand, there have been more student suicides throughout time.
19 incidences of student suicide have been documented in the first half of 2023.
Despite the suicide incidents, Kota continues to attract students since many of them use it as a stepping stone to elite engineering and medical schools.
The quality of primary and secondary education differs significantly in several states. Many students are under a great deal of strain because of the skill sets needed to thrive in competitive tests.
According to some students who spoke with India Today, they frequently lack the contextual and logical knowledge of the subjects needed to succeed in entrance tests.
They claimed that this is the reason they find it so challenging to complete the courses in Kota.
