Amidst the increasing cases of suicide by students in Kota, the coaching center of the country, the Rajasthan government has issued several guidelines in view of their welfare, under which students will not be allowed admission in coaching institutes before class 9 and to reduce the mental pressure of the students. It will be the responsibility of the coaching institutes to do this. The Rajasthan government has issued guidelines for regulation of coaching institutes running in various cities of the state including Kota, which includes giving one and a half day weekly leave to students and maintaining the correct ratio of children and teachers. Also, teachers of coaching institutes have been asked not to discriminate on the basis of academic performance of students. The state government had constituted a 15-member committee in this regard under the chairmanship of Education Secretary Bhavani Singh Detha. A few days later, nine-page guidelines were issued. The committee was formed in consultation with coaching institutes and other stakeholders following increasing cases of suicide by students in Kota city, the hub of coaching institutes for competitive exams. In these guidelines, it was mainly emphasized that students should not be given admission in coaching institutes before completing their ninth class studies. Besides, instructions were given to provide one and a half day weekly holiday, correct the ratio of children and teachers, make arrangements for ‘easy exit’ and helpline services and to run the monitoring system smoothly 24 hours. In this, coaching institutes have been asked not to make public the results of general examinations i.e. ‘Assessment Test’.
They should keep the results of these examinations confidential and do regular analysis at their level and provide special counseling as per the provisions of these guidelines to those children who are continuously getting low marks and whose academic performance is continuously falling. Along with this, the institutions have been asked not to reschedule/batch classification of batches on the basis of ‘Assessment Test’ conducted after admission. Teachers of the institutions have been asked not to discriminate against the students on the basis of their academic performance. Apart from this, emphasis was also laid on adopting ‘Refund Policy’ by the institutions. Guidelines related to counseling and training were also issued. Many measures have also been suggested to reduce mental pressure on students. On behalf of the government, the District Collector and the District Superintendent of Police have also been instructed to ensure compliance with the guidelines issued by the state government in the coaching institutes of the district. According to official figures, 23 students have committed suicide this year in Kota city, which is known as the coaching center of the country, which is the highest number so far. Last year this figure was 15. In compliance with the Guidelines 2023 to reduce stress and improve the mental health of students studying in coaching institutes running in the state, a high-level online meeting was held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Usha Sharma. In the meeting, the Chief Secretary said that every possible effort should be made to reduce the unwanted stress of studies among children, so that they do not take wrong steps due to frustration and disappointment. According to the government statement, Sharma said that it is the responsibility of the coaching operators to prevent any such untoward incident among the children studying. He said that the state government is making serious efforts in this direction. He also gave instructions to organize a meeting in this regard every 10 days. The Chief Secretary also directed the District Collector and District SP to ensure compliance with the guidelines issued by the State Government in the coaching institutes of the district. In the meeting, Principal Secretary (Higher and Technical Education) Bhavani Singh Detha said that keeping in mind the seriousness of the subject, suggestions were taken by the committee after detailed discussions with the concerned stakeholders like coaching operators, parents, psychological counselors, educationists etc. He said that after thorough study and analysis of the suggestions received, the report has been presented to the state government. According to this, assurance was given in the meeting by the coaching operators to ensure complete adherence to all the guidelines.