Our responsibility to ensure students are stress-free: Minister on Kota suicides

Pointing out that the alarming number of student suicides in coaching hub Kota is a "sensitive issue", Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that it is "our collective responsibility to ensure students are stress free".

The minister also added that one cannot ignore the issue of dummy schools but time has come to have serious discussions and deliberations on the subject.

Pradhan's statement to PTI came even as an 18-year-old student preparing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at a private hostel in Rajasthan's Sikar district on Saturday (October 7).

The police said that Nitin Faujdar, a resident of Nadbai town in Bharatpur district had come to Sikar in June to prepare for NEET. He was preparing at a coaching centre and skipped his class on Saturday, said Surendra Degra, station house officer, Udhyog Nagar police station. When Faujdar's roommate found the room locked from inside, he opened a window and saw his body hanging from the ceiling fan, the SHO said.

This is the second case of student suicide in Sikar in three days. On September 5, a 16-year-old NEET aspirant, Kaushal Meena, had committed suicide by hanging himself in his hostel room.

Sensitive issue

In his interview, Pradhan said no lives should be lost and the Centre is taking initiatives to ensure that coaching is not required and school education is enough.

Asked about record student suicides in Rajasthan's Kota this year, Pradhan said, "It is a very sensitive issue. No lives should be lost..they are our kids. They do not even have maturity or knowledge about what is happening to them. It is our collective responsibility to keep students stress free."

"There are enough positive models in the country, they need to be replicated... through technology, through social outreach, through taking care and counselling. NCERT is brainstorming about it, education department is working too..state government is also coming up with various circulars and guidelines...but the society needs to work together on implementation front on this issue," he said.

Highest number of student suicides

This year has seen the highest number of student suicides in the country's coaching hub - 23 so far - with two ending their lives within a gap of a few hours on August 27. Last year, the number was 15.

Over 2.5 lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for engineering and medical entrance exams JEE and NEET. Several candidates enrol themselves in schools in their home state and move to Kota to attend coaching classes.

They only appear for board exams directly and do not attend full-time schools. The issue of "dummy schools" has been flagged by several experts who believe not attending school hinders students' personal growth and they often feel isolated and stressed.

"The issue of dummy schools cannot be ignored. Although the number of such students is not very high in comparison to the total number of students...but time has come to have serious discussions and deliberations on the subject," Pradhan said.

The minister said that the central government is working to ensure that students do not require coaching. "We are making attempts and taking initiatives to ensure that coaching is not required and we have a progressive and student centric education system. There are examples like Navodaya Vidyalayas where we see good performance of students in competitive exams without coaching..so, it is a collective responsibility of centre and state governments to ensure that school education is enough," he said.

Recommendations by Rajasthan government

No glorification of toppers, results of routine tests to be kept confidential, no segregation of students in special batches based on their ranks and a policy for easy exit and refund within 120 days are among the recommendations made in the recently issued Rajasthan government's guidelines for coaching institutes.

The guidelines, which have been framed in consultation with the coaching institutes and other stakeholders, also restrict institutes from encouraging students below Class 9 to take admission in coaching institutes to prepare for medical and engineering entrance exams.

Anti-hanging device

With the record spike in suicide cases, the Kota administration has taken several steps including mandating installation of an anti-hanging device in fans and ordering coaching institutes to not take any exam for two months.

The anti-hanging device installation was encouraged by the Kota Hostel Association since 2017 and finally mandated by the district administration this year.

This is how the anti-hanging device works: If an object weighing more than 20 kg is hung from the fan, the spring attached to it expands, making it impossible for someone to commit suicide by this method. Simultaneously, a siren goes off.

"Anti-suicide nets" are also being installed in balconies and lobbies of hostels in Kota to prevent students from taking any extreme step.

Over two lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering and NEET for admission to medical colleges.

(With agency inputs)