Kota: Hub Of Education?

I was recently watching a series called Kota Factory which has created quite a stir in the lives of the masses. The internet has gone viral with appreciation for its lead actors and storyline. I too, have expressed views on social media in favour of the series saying it was relatable to my years of preparation for India’s most dreaded exam, very dearly called JEE-ADVANCED/ IIT-JEE. I couldn’t make through the exam but the years of toil have a story that can be told.

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, if there is one place, every student dreams of going if he/she aspires to go to IIT and nowhere else, it is the city on the banks of river Chambal- Kota. Demographically speaking, Kota is the third most populous city of the state of Rajasthan and witnesses the influx of around 1.25-1.5 lakh students every year. These students come to Kota to seek education from top coaching institutes and make it to the IITs and government medical colleges. They mostly stay in hostels and rooms on rent, shared by 2-3 people. Very few students are accompanied by their parents during the stay. They get themselves enrolled in a dummy school wherein they are required to attend classes only during final examinations. Hence, the vicious cycle of staying in the coaching capital, eating almost inedible food, cramming 15 hours straight after their hectic schedules, facing narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, preparing for daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly test regimes and not faring well in them, starts. Kota has a success rate of around 10% in IIT-JEE selection in contrast to the national 3%. This seems fancy and luring to all the students who resolve to get into the finest of all colleges in India. But let me tell you, these statistics are misleading enough.

In comparison to the number of students who come to Kota, only around 2500 qualify for IITs. The rest of the students curse their ill-fated luck, get frustrated and depressed and some even commit suicide to the escape the cacophony of the monstrous world they are thrown into. Nobody speaks of the students who couldn’t make it. Neither parents nor teachers are sensitive to the emotional cost of chasing the dream of getting into the IITs. The coaching institutes are indulged in a mad race of competition amongst themselves and the students, well the students are never made to understand that the equations of life, the dynamics of relationships and judging the calculative mindsets has more significance in life than the subjects of physics, chemistry and mathematics they are given to study.

Kota is no temple of learning. It is simply a city which has nothing but coaching centers to facilitate education among bright minds. It is ironical that they make these bright minds lack-lustre and facilitate depression amongst them. No wonder the series was called Kota Factory and not Kota City.