Reports of suicide cases almost every alternate day by the medical entrance aspirants in coaching hub Kota in Rajasthan has caused alarm bells and the State Government has now pitched in to draw lines to contain such cases.
Two students, preparing for competitive exams in Kota, allegedly committed suicide on Sunday, in a span of four hours. According to authorities, 22 students have ended their lives so far in 2023 — the highest for any year. Last year, the figure was 15.
A day after two NEET aspirants committed suicide, Rajasthan Education Secretary Bhawani Singh Detha held a meeting with Kota collector and other officials through video conference in which representatives of coaching institutes and hostel association too attended.
After the urgent meeting on Monday, authorities asked coaching institutes to stop conducting routine tests of students preparing for NEET and other competitive exams for the next two months in the wake of suicides by a number of aspirants.
Kota district collector O P Bunkar, in an order, asked the coaching institutes to stop holding routine tests for the next two months. He said the directions were passed to provide “mental support” to students.
The reason behind the suicides is that the aspirants were apparently under pressure for scoring low marks during routine tests conducted by the coaching centres and then the peer pressure from the parents to perform.