August 19th 2023.
This week, the town of Kota, Rajasthan saw yet another student die by suicide, pushing the number of suicides of students in Kota – famous for its coaching centres for competitive exams – to the highest it has been in the past few years. This is a very concerning development, especially since the town has seen an average of three suicides a month this year.
Kota was once an industrial town with small-scale manufacturing units in cloth and engineering. But with the emergence of the ‘coaching economy’, hundreds of coaching centres opened up, admitting students aged 15 or 16 to prepare for competitive exams for engineering and medical institutes. However, the administration has come up with a ridiculous solution to prevent suicides by hanging – attaching springs to ceiling fans.
Kota is just the tip of the iceberg, as the National Crime Records’ Bureau states that an average of 35 students die by suicide every day. In 2021, the number of suicides by students increased by 4.5 percent. Unfortunately, these cases rarely make the headlines, but the phenomenon is shocking and needs to be addressed. India is losing out on its great demographic dividend when students are choosing suicide over education.
We need to investigate the fundamental reasons that make young, hardworking people take their own lives. This could include failing exams, fear of not making it to top colleges, disparities in school education, difficulty in adapting to life outside home, or peer pressure and parental expectations. Furthermore, it should be made mandatory for coaching centres, colleges and exam centres to have trained mental health practitioners that students can approach in such situations. A part of the profits should be used to create a mental health framework for all students. Unless the nation recognizes that the rat race for success also takes the lives of students, the issue of students’ suicides could get worse.
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