Opinion On Kota suicides, Avijit Pathak writes: We are all responsible for the coaching centre-driven anxiety
As teachers, we must introspect about our failures. As parents, we ought to ask uncomfortable questions about the values of success we inculcate. And as citizens, we must make the political class accountable for its failure to address the aspirations of youngsters
At a time when coaching centres have colonised the imagination of young students, schools must assert their confidence through a vibrant culture of engaged pedagogy. (Express Archives) 
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Yes, once again, we – I mean a sick society obsessed with a mythical notion of “success”— allowed three young minds to end their lives in Kota: The town in Rajasthan known for all that is ugly about our education system. Yet, despite the recurrence of suicides and mental disorders amongst these cogs in the coaching factory, we will forget this tragedy quite soon. In fact, the lavish business of coaching centres will continue to flourish; middle-class parents from all over the country will not hesitate to send their children to this ugly chamber that robs young, adolescent students of their joy, laughter, music and poetry, and makes them recklessly one-dimensional for cracking engineering/medical entrance tests. We will continue to equate intelligence and creativity with the ability to crack these terribly problematic standardised tests, confuse the treasure of physics and mathematics with what these coaching factories vomit every day, and entertain a false belief that life is really “settled” when one walks through the corridors of IITs or select medical colleges.
A hyper-competitive and over-populated society with a complete mismatch between the overflow of aspirants for job-oriented techno-managerial/ medical education and real opportunities; the chronic restlessness of the aspiring class for whom this sort of education seems to be the only capital for upward social mobility; the scarcity of jobs for those who seek to pursue liberal arts and social sciences; and the nexus of the education mafia and the political class that taps this anxiety and existential insecurity for spreading the chains of coaching centres and Ed-Tech companies — the sociological reasons for this sickness are well-known and much talked about. But then, if we are really sincere and feel genuinely about the fate of adolescents and young students, we ought to strive for and initiate a social movement to rescue education from the psychic/pedagogic/ethical decadence that Kota symbolises. In this context, as a teacher, I will make three observations.
First, as teachers (and I do not equate teachers with heavily paid coaching centre strategists, even if they are ex-IITians) in schools, colleges and universities, we ought to introspect. We must regain our agency, articulate our critical and life-affirming voice through our innovative pedagogic practices, and open the windows of consciousness of young students. Only then is it possible for them to realise that each of them is unique, there is no uniform and standardised notion of “success”, and creativity manifests itself in multiple forms — in music and film-making, in physics and history, or in football and agriculture.
At a time when coaching centres have colonised the imagination of young students, schools must assert their confidence through a vibrant culture of engaged pedagogy. Likewise, I wonder why IIT professors do not assert that the ability of a young aspirant to celebrate the joy of learning physics, mathematics and engineering can never be equated with the “skill” youngsters master through the mechanised process of endless drilling that coaching centres with their “disciplinary” time-table normalise. Are these tests only serving the purpose of eliminating people rather than finding those who are genuinely inclined to science and engineering? It is high time we began to question the supremacy of this sort of life-killing standardised tests.
Second, as parents, we ought to ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions. Are we willing to realise that love is not interference or the imposition of our authority on children? Are we ready to realise that our children are not “investments” — a raw material to be sent to the Kota factory, and transformed into a polished “product” with placement offers and an attractive salary package? Are we bold and transparent enough to realise that our children’s real happiness lies in experimenting, looking at themselves, and eventually pursuing what they are inclined to? Is it possible for us to accept that diversity is natural, and hence, it is unnatural if every child becomes a parrot, and is compelled to believe that she/he wants to become either a computer engineer or an IAS officer?
And third, we must make the political class accountable. Our children are suffering, government schools, colleges and universities are in steady decline, with the “management quota” and “capitation fee”, private medical/engineering colleges are further exploiting the anxiety-ridden and ambitious parents, and there is no sincere effort to create job opportunities in diverse fields.
Yet, these real issues seldom matter during elections in our country. We seem to be happy with our caste and religious identities and seem to be more interested in temples and mosques than education and livelihood. And we are ready to humiliate and kill one another in the name of “identities”. Sadly, it doesn’t shock us that elections are hardly ever fought on the issue of meaningful and inclusive education, and the fate of children and youngsters. Are we ready to redefine people’s politics?
If we refuse to introspect, be ready to accept it: We will continue to hear the stories of suicide in Kota and in other small towns in the country filled with the billboards showcasing the “toppers” these coaching centres love to sell; motivational speakers and select counsellors will fail to combat the epidemic of anxiety and mental disorder among the competitors in the rat race; and yes, even the “success stories” will be filled with a sense of fatigue, inner emptiness and meaninglessness.
The author writes on culture and education
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