‘Kota institutes highlight their toppers, but don’t say how many students they have… This is fraud’: Rajasthan Higher Education Minister

The main issue is that these days parents put a lot of pressure on children regarding careers. Institutes don’t keep a check on the number of students they are enrolling. Kota has more than 1.5 lakh students. Parks have been built in Kota by (Shanti) Dhariwalji (Kota North Congress MLA) for the relaxation of students… Monitoring of hostels is also done and coaching centres should keep a tab on this. I don’t know why, but a trend is being seen in youngsters across the country of dying by suicide even over small matters. This is a phenomenon in other cities too.

There is a view that coaching centres have become purely commercial. What is the government doing on the issue?

We are working on an umbrella Act to put a check on coaching centres, on issues such as deciding fees. A law will be made on this. It is the moral duty of coaching centres… Back in our time, where were coaching centres? Didn’t people become IAS, doctors, or engineers back then? Parents these days do not care for the sporting activities of children or their individual interests. Some youngsters want to become sportspersons, or to go into some other field, but parents force them to become doctors or engineers, to be admitted to IITs. This is a big reason.

Can you expand on the proposed umbrella law?

We are trying to bring the entire higher education system and all stakeholders under one umbrella. We have also taken feedback from all stakeholders. Private colleges or institutes feel that we want to clip their wings or to scare them. We have told them that we will solve their problems, but they also have to improve from their end. At present there are several areas in which the coaching centres are lacking, such as the non-installation of safety nets, a lack of parking spaces.

The Assembly elections are coming soon. Do you think this can be achieved before the polls?

We are trying to work on the agenda.

What do you think is the main problem with the Kota coaching model?

Students who lag behind feel guilty that their parents have invested so much money in them. At times, parents remind them of this. This results in psychological pressure on students. The institutes don’t have governance. Some institutes have become purely commercial. We are considering putting some checks on their hoardings and boards. They market their institutes by highlighting the toppers, but don’t say how many students study at their institutes. If 20,000 students take coaching at your institute and, out of them, 30 are toppers, then this is something natural. Intelligent kids bring good numbers in class. They don’t say how many students studied from their institute and how many were actual toppers. This is fraud.

Parents should not depend too much on coaching centres. Now students are enrolling as early as Class 9. This results in pressure. They now have to appear for exams of coaching centres as well as the boards.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has constituted a committee to zero in on ways to prevent student suicides. What can we expect?

We are waiting for the committee’s report and will decide on our course of action after that.

How do you see the role of the administration in preventing student suicides?

We have connected all district collectors across the state and norms have been made to be followed by coaching centres. People are following these norms and we get regular reports. Collectors in Jaipur, Sikar and Kota have done a commendable job.