According to Kota police and district administration records, at least 14 students studying in coaching centres in the city committed suicide this year.
From yoga sessions and zumba classes to 24x7 helplines and mental wellness workshops, coaching institutes in Kota say they take multiple steps to help students tackle the anxiety of preparing for competitive exams.
The coaching hub is back in focus after three students died last week -- two of them were found hanging at their hostel rooms, and the third one allegedly consumed a poisonous substance.
Prominent coaching institute Allen, which currently has over 1.5 lakh students in its various medical (NEET) and engineering (JEE) entrance preparatory courses, runs special programmes such as 'Tum Hoge Kamyab (you will succeed)' and 'Wings of Wisdom', besides regular yoga sessions and zumba classes, for the mental wellbeing of its students.
"We have a dedicated helpline which works round the clock and over 50 concerned calls from students or parents are addressed daily through it," said Dr Harish Sharma, principal counsellor and student-behaviour expert at Allen.
"For every 10 students we have a supervising student who is called a buddy. The job of the buddy is to keep a check on the mental health of the group and inform the teachers if there are any symptoms or signs like someone is not eating properly for a few days, not coming out of room or attending classes or not talking to his or her parents," Dr Sharma told PTI.
Professional counsellors available at the institute are roped in once the teachers have an idea that any student is going through some difficulties, Dr Sharma added.
"However, in certain cases where we realise that mere counselling will not help and the child needs proper treatment, we inform the parents to take the child with them for sometime and work on their mental health," he stated.
The coaching behemoth also organises counselling sessions for parents to sensitise them about how to keep in touch with their child, without creating any pressure on them.
"It is a very thin line," Dr Sharma said. "If parents do not keep in touch with their wards, it's obvious they will not notice any change in their behaviour and will not know when their child needs help."
"On the other hand, if parents keep in constant touch, they often add to the burden and stress of students by reminding them of their struggles in sending the child to Kota or add the burden of their expectations."
Typically, for students the day begins as early as 5.30 am with their first classes at 7 am.
Coaching institutes have put in place a mechanism to let parents know if their child has attended the class.
As soon students leave their hostel, they are supposed to mark an 'exit' using the biometric attendance system which automatically sends a message to the parents that the child is out of their accommodation.
A similar message is sent to parents when the child enters the coaching institute.
At Resonance, another prominent coaching institution, every student has a mentor to help him or her deal with academic and non-academic issues.
"We encourage students to not only discuss their academic concerns but also non-academic issues which are causing stress or anxiety. Yoga sessions and concentration exercises are also among the activities that are encouraged among the students," said R K Agarwal, the institute's managing director and academic head.
Notwithstanding such measures, students sometimes get trapped in the cycle of depression with multiple factor contributing to it.
According to police and district administration records, at least 14 students studying in coaching centres in the city committed suicide this year.
No student suicide was reported in 2021 when the coaching centres here were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and students attended online classes from their homes.
The number stood at 18 in 2019 and 20 in 2020.
Of the three students who died last week, NEET aspirant Ankush Anand (18) from and JEE aspirant Ujjwal Kumar (17) -- both from Bihar -- were found hanging from ceiling fans in their respective rooms at their paying guest (PG) accommodation on December 12, according to police.
The third student, Pranav Verma (17), a NEET aspirant from Madhya Pradesh, allegedly consumed a poisonous substance in his hostel on December 11.
In the current year, a record 200,000 students are enrolled and studying in various coaching institutions in Kota.
Naveen Mittal, president, Kota Hostel Association, said similar measures are in place at the hostels too to help students cope with stress and anxiety.
"Since each student lives in a single room accommodation to help them study better, it is not possible for the peers to always keep a check manually but we ensure that wardens regularly talk to the students," Mittal said.
"Special fun zones have been created in the hostels for students' recreation. Meditation sessions are also regularly conducted," he said.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
