Experts have suggested that parents should assess their aptitude through professional help before deciding to send Kota to prepare for the highly competitive JEE and NEET exams, as the country’s coaching hubs feel that a month There is uneasiness within due to the suicide of four students. ,
Educational experts and psychologists who have been following the recent developments say that preparing students mentally and training them to do their daily tasks on their own is also a very important part of “preparatory preparation”. Is part of.
Dr Chandrashekhar Sushil, head of the department of psychiatry at the New Medical College Hospital here, said that instead of pressuring children to become doctors and engineers, parents should get their aptitude tests done and then decide what is best for them. .
Most parents send their kids there for coaching with almost zero preparation and their focus is only on arranging finances and logistics, he said.
The recent suicide by four coaching students has sparked a new debate about the mental health of students, who often get caught up in the fast-paced curriculum, family expectations and societal pressures.
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“When a child is in class 5 or 6, parents decide whether he will be sent to Kota after two years or four years,” said Harish Sharma, principal counselor and student-behaviour expert, ALLEN Career Institute.
They start saving accordingly or have already started planning to move to the city. However, they never try to analyze professionally whether their child really wants to do this or is even fit to do so. He said that there should be no shame in accepting the suggestions of professionals and acting accordingly. “A decade ago, professional help with competency testing and decision-making was not as readily available as it is today.” He said that parents mostly focus on scoring high marks without understanding the mental potential of their children.
“More than 90 per cent marks in class 10 or 12 cannot be a benchmark to decide whether a child is meant for engineering or medicine. We often find students here who either come under pressure from parents or they don’t have a quick idea about the subject of their choice. That’s where professional competency testing can help,” he said.
He said that it is important to take an informed decision soon.
“When the child is already here, the ship has sort of sailed. Parents and children often become upset that their peers know about the move and if they do so without the desired result.” return, they will be let down. If an informed decision can be made early, it can be really helpful,” he said.
Sharma said that talking to neighbors and relatives whose children might have gone to Kota is not enough and professional help should be sought at an early stage.
This year a record 2 lakh students have taken admission in various coaching institutes of Kota. At least 14 students studying in coaching centers here have committed suicide this year allegedly due to academic stress.
RK Verma, managing director and academic head of Resonance, another leading coaching institute in Kota, believes that it is very important to develop proper communication channels between parents and children beforehand.
“Parents cannot expect that their child will suddenly start communicating with them when he is here. This bond and comfort level has to be developed first. depend on parents.
He said that in the coaching centers of Kota, there is much more academic pressure on the students than what it used to be earlier.
“The inability to manage your wardrobe, send clothes to the laundry, reach the mess on time to have your meals, wake up on your own, manage all these things… the kids haven’t done it on their own before coming here Verma said.
So suddenly, the child finds himself lost. That’s why we advise parents not to keep their children in their arms for at least two years before sending them here. So that the only difficulty they face is in dealing with the academic part which we can solve here,” he said.
On 11 December, three students committing suicide within a span of 12 hours rocked the coaching town, prompting the district and coaching authorities to step up measures to contain it. Another student committed suicide on December 23, allegedly due to academic stress.
Dr. Chandrashekhar Sushil, head of the department of psychiatry at the New Medical College Hospital here, said, “I do not believe that coaching institutes have much role in student suicides.” We have to accept that JEE and NEET are very tough exams and hence teaching and learning are also considered to be of the same level. However, before sending the students to Kota, it is very important to take the Aptitude Test. It is equally important that some kind of counseling and grooming is done at least two years before the child comes to Kota, as most of these children have never been away from home before,” said Sushil.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)