Editorial: Toxic ecosystem

Rising student suicides in Kota is a cry of hopelessness and guilt, a pointer to a society that does not seem to care

On the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an annual interaction with students preparing for board exams, was exhorting parents not to treat children’s ‘report card’ as their own ‘visiting card’, yet another tragic news came in from Kota, the country’s coaching hub in Rajasthan. An 18-year-old girl took her life, unable to cope with the academic pressure. Her heart-wrenching suicide note, addressed to her parents, exposes the toxic ecosystem that is playing havoc with young minds. It is also a cry of hopelessness and guilt, a pointer to a society that does not seem to care. An exacting examination system, parental expectations, an individual’s limitations and the debilitating fear of loss can take a heavy toll. The failure to recognise these factors and then to reduce the tragedy of a young person to mental health challenges amounts to shying away from harsh truths. If the vulnerabilities and emotional needs of teenage students are ignored by those who play an important role in their lives, such tragedies will keep happening. Suicide is the number one cause of death among those aged between 15 and 30 years. What is more appalling is that student suicides are reduced to cold statistics and society is becoming increasingly numb to these tragedies. The Rs 12,000-crore coaching industry of Kota is quite heartless when it comes to students’ welfare. It would be naïve to expect this highly competitive and profit-driven industry to reform itself overnight or become empathetic to students’ emotional needs.

Kota has become a killing field where dreams die at the altar of unreasonable expectations fuelled by parental and peer pressure. The perfunctory measures taken by the Rajasthan government to regulate their functioning appear to have no impact as suicides continue unabated. The combination of rigorous test preparation, long study hours and parental expectations exert great pressure on the mental well-being of students. Nearly two lakh students from all over India are enrolled in Kota’s coaching centres to pursue their dreams. Every year, the coaching institutes hold roadshows with garlanded students perched atop jeeps. However, the media highlights the success stories of only those who make it to elite institutions while the struggles and miseries of thousands of aspirants remain untold and unaddressed. The entire education ecosystem that puts a premium on success and shuts the doors on alternative career avenues is to be blamed for the sorry state of affairs. For students, many from modest economic backgrounds, a lot is at stake. A recent study revealed that four out of ten students in Kota were struggling with depression and eight out of 10 were anxious or stressed. There is a growing need for comprehensive mental health support and guidance to address the crisis. Successive governments have failed to take corrective steps to arrest the ominous trend.

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