A 17-year-old student of a coaching institute in Kota died by suicide on Sunday evening, police said on Monday, taking the death toll of students studying in coaching institutes in Kota to 22 since 2022.
Mahaveer Nagar police station sub-inspector Avdesh Kumar said that the student, a resident of Shahjhanpur town in Uttar Pradesh, was preparing for the JEE mains examination.
Police said that the student was residing in a guest house in Kota whilst preparing for the examination and the incident came to light when a friend went to him but as he did not get any response despite several calls and banging on the door, the latter informed the guest house owner, who then called the police.
Also Read: Woman, son die by suicide after argument over dinner: Police
“His friend repeatedly knocked on the student’s room door after reaching. When there was no response, he informed the guesthouse owner, who later called the police. Upon breaking the door, we found him hanging from a ceiling fan,” sub-inspector Kumar said.
The family members of the student were informed and the body is kept in the mortuary, he added.
As many as 121 students have died by suicide in Kota since 2011. In 2022, the number of suicide cases reached 15.
The rising toll has always raised questions on the process of coaching, admission and preparation for competitive exams at these coaching centres.
In wake of such cases, the Rajasthan government is likely to introduce a bill in the winter session of the state assembly to regulate private educational institutes – from schools to universities to test-prep specialists – and ease the academic pressure on students, especially those enrolled in private coaching centres or online tutorials.
Also Read: Odisha woman cricketer’s death: Police recovers handwritten note
The proposed bill provides for an aptitude test for students to take admission in coaching centres and prohibition of display of pictures of toppers of different entrance examinations by coaching institutes to prevent the glorification of toppers. As per the bill, each coaching institute will have to set up career counselling cells to inform students of the best education stream for them as per their aptitude test.
According to government officials, the bill also provides for regular audits of accounts of coaching institutes and mandatory registration with a government body. The bill also proposed to set up a regulatory authority that will monitor the fee structures in coaching institutes and introduce measures to reduce pressure on students.
The government’s move to table the ‘Rajasthan Private Educational Regulatory Authority Bill 2022’ comes in the backdrop of three students of a private test-prep institute in Kota who died by suicide in December last year, allegedly due to academic pressure.
