The center of coaching establishments nowadays is Kota, a tiny city in Rajasthan that was once renowned for its clean, quiet pace of life. Since Kota is known for turning out high-achieving pupils, hundreds of students go there each year with lofty goals. Kota coaching schools, well-known for its rigorous IIT-JEE Coaching and NEET Preparation programs, guarantee to transform dreams into reality.

However, underneath this promise of accomplishment lurks a more profound and sinister reality: academic stress, student pressure, and an escalating mental health crisis.

How Kota Turned Into the Coaching Center

Competitive tests like IIT-JEE and NEET are highly valued in India as they often determine a young person’s destiny. It follows that the surge in demand for coaching centers is not surprising. In an effort to provide their kids a better life, parents pay millions of rupees to enroll them in prestigious Kota schools. It is understandable why the coaching sector in India has expanded to a multibillion-rupee industry.

Have you ever pondered why our nation has such a huge need for coaching centers? It’s the fierce rivalry and pressure, nothing else. There is tremendous pressure to do well since there are thousands of students vying for a small number of spots. Every year, hundreds of students come to coaching centers with great expectations because they claim to make dreams come true.

The Crisis in Mental Health and Academic Stress

Although Kota is regarded as a center for education that fosters ambitions, it is also a location where students experience academic stress to the point that they are unable to cope. Students often study for 10–12 hours per day while balancing courses, exams, and periods of uncertainty. There is intense competitiveness and a persistent dread of failing. This fosters a climate of extreme anxiety and excessive academic stress. There is little time for play, relaxation, or mental health because of the demanding programs that some students—some as young as 14—are involved in. Not only do coaching centers generate pressure, but parents also add to it by having high expectations of their kids and often pushing them over their breaking point. As a result, the headlines in recent years have been unsettling: growing rates of student suicide, soaring dropout rates, and extreme student burnout.

What Are the Options?

The lonely and remote dormitory life away from home, the pressure to perform, the lack of time for rest or relaxation, and the stress of not disappointing their parents make studying at Kota difficult. These factors often cause students to become psychologically and physically burned out. Here are several ways to help the pupils.

Organize frequent workshops on mental health.
Lessen academic pressure by using more dynamic teaching strategies and granting flexibility with regard to exam and deadline dates.
Provide helplines so that students may talk about their difficulties in confidence.
To provide their children the love and support they need, parents should visit them sometimes and have candid talks with them.
In addition, parents need to set reasonable expectations for their children and refrain from evaluating them against others.
Unquestionably, Kota’s coaching centers have assisted hundreds of students in realizing their aspirations of enrolling in renowned universities, but there are also occasions when goals are overshadowed by the intense pressure there.

It’s critical to understand that developing emotionally resilient, self-assured, and contented people is more vital than achieving test success.