NCPCR team at the meeting with stakeholders at Kota, Rajasthan.
A team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) visited coaching centres in Kota and interacted with students, institutes’ owners and other stakeholders to ascertain the causes of rising number of student suicides. Based on its findings, the team will submit recommendations to the Central government on ways to reduce exam-related stress among students.
Priyank Kanoongo, a member of the NCPCR, was accompanied by two expert members from NCPCR, a clinical psychologist and a member of the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (RSCPCR). SP Singh, a member of RSCPCR, visited hostels and coaching institutes on Friday and interacted with the students and their parents. The team also convened a meeting of all the coaching institutes of Kota and district administrative officials to identify the causes of rising number of student suicides. Dr. ML Aggarwal, who runs a helpline for distressed students Hope, attributed several reasons including parental pressure, changes in secondary sexual characters, emotional issues, exam-related stress, among many other reasons for students taking the extreme step.
The team expressed displeasure at the lack of counsellors at most of the coaching institutes in Kota. Even if the institutes had counsellors, they were not adequately trained to handle distressed students, the team said. Based on the facts collected through interactions with students, coaching institutions and district administration of Kota and future visits to other coaching institutes in different cities across the country, NCPCR will submit its finding and recommendations to the governments for preventing student suicides and suggest ways to de-stress the students.