India's Daechi-dong: Over 100 Students Die from Academic Stress in 10 Years

Kota, Over 50 Academies Concentrated in 12 Large Institutes

There has been a sudden increase in extreme choices among students in the Kota region of Rajasthan, northwestern India, prompting authorities to launch an investigation.

Kota is known as the "Indian Daechi-dong," with 12 large academies and more than 50 smaller academies concentrated in the area. It is reported that one out of three students admitted to the Indian Institutes of Technology, where many students aspire to enroll, attended Kota's entrance exam academies.

It is also nicknamed the "Kota Factory" because it produces a large number of entrants to prestigious engineering colleges such as the National Institutes of Technology (NIT), another top engineering school in India. Many students even drop out of their high schools to prepare for entrance exams here.

An academy advertisement in Kota, Rajasthan, northwestern India. Students' scores and photos are displayed. [Photo source=Facebook capture]

Over the past decade, at least 100 teenage students in Kota have died due to academic stress and related pressures. This year, a record high of 25 students have taken their own lives, leading the Rajasthan state government to implement measures such as banning the public disclosure of student grades.

On the 23rd (local time), the British BBC described Kota as “the top goal of Indian parents is their children's admission to prestigious universities,” and introduced that “admission to prestigious medical and engineering colleges is a shortcut to becoming high-income earners in India.”

Throughout Kota, large billboards display the names, photos, and rankings of successful students. More than 200,000 students live in hostels or rented accommodations to study in Kota. Among them are students as young as 13 years old. The annual tuition fees for academies in Kota amount to 100,000 rupees (approximately 1.63 million won), which is close to the annual salary of an average Indian worker.

A Prominent Path for Social Mobility, the Surge in Private Education for Engineering Entrance Exams

Hundreds of students are gathered attending a class at an academy in Kota, Rajasthan, northwestern India.
[Photo by Facebook capture]

The private education boom in India began about a decade ago. The current generation of 20- to 30-year-olds in India is also known as a generation that experienced “ultra-focused management” through private education.

Engineering entrance exams, considered a prominent route to climb the social ladder, are especially competitive. In this context, a child's admission to a prestigious university is also a source of pride for Indian parents. Ultimately, parents pay large sums for academy fees, hoping their children will be admitted to prestigious engineering or medical colleges that lead to high-income jobs.

An official from a famous academy in Kota said, “Students’ stress has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.” According to Indian government statistics, more than 13,000 students took their own lives in India in 2021, a 4.5% increase compared to 2020.

In response, the Rajasthan state government has established stricter regulations targeting the academy districts. On September 29, guidelines were announced that include not encouraging enrollment of students under 14 years old and not disclosing exam results. Earlier in June, an 11-member police team was formed to identify students showing signs of depression.

Suicide prevention education has been provided to academy instructors and student accommodation staff, and provisions have been made to allow students to receive refunds of academy fees at any time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.