“And please will the Government of India, the HRD ministry do something about these coaching institutes. They suck and should be shut down as soon as possible.”
Kriti’s final wish is unlikely to be heard. In her five-page-long suicide note, published in the Hindustan Times, the 17-year-old reveals how she was on the edge for most part of the two years that she spent at Kota’s Vibrant Academy.
The 130-odd coaching institutes have evolved to become a part of an estimated Rs 300 crore unrecognised and unregulated industry. It would unfair to blame the coaching institutes alone for the spate of suicides, but the fact remains that they were a common link between the 24 students who killed themselves in the last sixteen months.
Here are five ways in which the coaching institutes have sent students over the edge by projecting unrealistic ambitions on to students, many of whom can’t afford to be there.
1. Bribing and Poaching
Top coaching institutes are known to employ “agents” that scout rival centres for potential toppers i.e. students who have the aptitude to score a top all India rank. Speaking to The Quint, Sfurti explains how a friend of hers was offered large sums of money to enrol in a coaching institute.
He enrolled in the coaching institute just before the exams were held. As expected, he scored a top rank and the institute that had paid to poach him was able to publish his name and rank under their brand logo.
Not only is this an unfair practice, the fact that it is common knowledge in Kota goes to show the impunity with which these moneyed coaching institutes operate.
2. No Screening Test
Have money that you are willing to pay? Then the coaching institutes are just for you. Like any stream, engineering and medical requires a certain aptitude, one that nobody in Kota is willing to test at the time of admission. Having built mammoth corporate-like structures, the coaching institutes are equipped to deal with the 1.5 lakh students who come here each year. Pramod Maheshwari of Career Point is brutally honest when he says why the screening tests were abandoned in favour of mass admissions.
If we reject the student, then another coaching institute will pick him up. Then with money power, these bigger coaching institutes started poaching our teachers and other students. So we too had to start functioning like them and do away with a screening test. Secondly, parents come to us and say,“what’s the worse that can happen? He will lose only one year”.
3. The Wrong “Right Path”
“When you come here, you should have only one question in your mind - why have I come to Allen?”, says Rajesh Maheshwari, co-founder of the biggest coaching institute in Kota. A motivational speaker, his philosophy around academics is simple – there is the right path that includes respecting teachers and dedication and the wrong path that includes cellphones and birthday parties.
Of the several students The Quint met with in Kota, not one had managed to make any real friends. “No time to make friends” is a common refrain. While this focussed approach breeds academic excellence, it also fosters an environment where a child has no downtime, no other stimulation.
4. Promoting Unhealthy Competition
While there is no admission test, a review test after two weeks of joining determines which classroom a student is allotted. The students who do well in this exam are grouped together and are taught by senior teachers, have 24/7 access to their cellphone numbers to clear doubts, are allowed to enter libraries and have special revision classes. The ones who don’t do as well are deprived of such privileges. Insecurity and self-doubt are a natural result of this division based on academic performance.
5. Catching Them Young
The coaching institutes have realised the potential of exploiting the typical Indian obsession with IIT and AIIMS. Coaching institutes have now made available special classes for students as young as 13 (Class 8). Students are deprived of regular schooling that ensures a more holistic psychological and academic growth of a child and subjects them to Science and Mathematics Olympiads which are a stepping stone towards preparation for the IITs.
Also watch The Quint’s full documentary: Why Kota Kills: Is the Education Hub a Deathtrap?
Producer: Tridip K Mandal
Cameraperson: Siddharth Safaya
Video Editor: Nitin Sharma
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)