New Delhi: Increasing incidents of suicide of students in Kota district of Rajasthan have now become a matter of concern. Yesterday a meeting held, which saw participation from coaching institutes, hostel associations, and officials, was spearheaded by Bhawani Singh Detha, the principal secretary for higher and technical education.
New Delhi: Increasing incidents of suicide of students in Kota district of Rajasthan have now become a matter of concern. Yesterday a meeting held, which saw participation from coaching institutes, hostel associations, and officials, was spearheaded by Bhawani Singh Detha, the principal secretary for higher and technical education.
According to officials, the government has directed coaching institutes to integrate ‘half day study, half day fun’, identify students with suicidal tendencies and provide psychological counseling once a week to prevent rising cases of student suicides. Notably, coaching institutes were called upon to establish committees of subject experts to streamline course loads, with a view to reducing the burden on students.
Additionally, the institutes were advised to conduct online motivational sessions led by experts, subsequently sharing these sessions on social media platforms for wider accessibility. Wednesdays were earmarked for ‘half-day study, half-day fun’ sessions, offering students a much-needed respite. The officials further said that the meeting was held through video conference under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Higher and Technical Education) Bhawani Singh Detha.
Apart from officials, representatives of coaching institutes and hostel associations also participated in the meeting. To further support students, the routine tests for NEET and other competitive exams were temporarily suspended for the next two months.
Concerned about the increasing suicide incidents in Kota, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has constituted a committee for this and Detha has been appointed as the chairman of the committee. The committee will also visit Kota soon. Other decisions taken in the meeting included asking coaching institutes to form a committee of subject experts in an effort to reduce the syllabus burden on students.
The coaching institutes have also been asked to conduct online motivational sessions by experts and upload it on social media for the benefit of all students. Officials said that it was decided in the meeting that the coaching institutes would conduct sessions like ‘Half Day Study, Half Day Fun’ every Wednesday. Kota District Collector OP Bunkar, Superintendent of Police Sharad Chowdhary, Additional Collector (Administration) Rajkumar Singh and Additional Superintendent of Police Bhagwat Singh were present in the meeting.
More than 2 lakh students come to Kota every year to prepare for competitive exams like JEE for admission to engineering colleges and NEET for admission to medical colleges. Earlier on Sunday, within 4 hours, two students had given their lives. According to officials, in the year 2023, 23 students preparing for competitive exams in Kota district have committed suicide so far and this is the largest number of any year so far. Last year this figure was 15.
