00:00Let's turn to tonight's Get Real India story.
00:02Now, Kota was once India's top coaching hub.
00:05But today it faces a sharp decline in student enrollment
00:09that's impacting an entire business that was built
00:12around these coaching centers.
00:14This is because of rising concern over student suicides
00:18and competition from other cities.
00:20What is the decline that's taken place in Kota?
00:23It's tonight's Get Real India story.
00:30Once called the coaching hub of the country,
00:38Kota's coaching economy is under immense pressure.
00:44The fall in number of students taking coaching in Kota
00:47for various competitive examinations,
00:50especially for engineering and medical, is significant.
00:55In 2023 to 2024, 1,75,351 students
01:02took coaching for NEET, JEE, in Kota.
01:06In 2024 to 2025, this has come down to 1,22,616 students,
01:15a drop of 30% in a year.
01:19There has been no study on why the students have gone.
01:22I think the students have online options now.
01:26That's one reason.
01:28We have an initiative called Dinner with Collector.
01:29I go to the classes with the students and talk to them directly.
01:34Other than that, whenever the students complain
01:37that they are facing a problem,
01:39on a regular basis, I, ADMCT, and our nodal coordinators
01:44are trying to sort it out for them.
01:48Kota has a legacy of almost 30-plus years of quality education.
01:55All over India, the system has been followed.
01:57So definitely we will bounce back.
02:01The real situation is more grim.
02:04The spate of suicides in Kota has clearly not helped the cause
02:09of the numerous stakeholders deeply invested in the coaching industry.
02:15In 2023, 27 students died by suicide in Kota.
02:21Next year saw 16 suicide deaths.
02:25In 2025, so far, 6 students have died by suicide in Kota.
02:33In the last 12 years itself,
02:35more than 150 students have died by suicide in Kota district.
02:41To stop suicides, it is very important to have a conversation
02:45between the police and the students.
02:47Not only the police and the students,
02:49but also with the teachers, counselors, and psychologists.
02:56As it is done nowadays,
02:57psychologists and counselors are also employed in the coaching institutes.
03:01According to me, the number of students has fallen by 40-50 percent
03:05compared to last year.
03:07The main reason for this is that
03:10many institutes have opened in many cities.
03:13There are two or three reasons.
03:15First, everyone knows about the institutes that are open in every city.
03:18But there is also an online coaching.
03:20People are thinking that
03:21we can take online coaching and join a library or self-study.
03:25Because we are getting the same things online.
03:30For long, Kota's coaching industry had become a money-minting business
03:35that provides many indirect jobs as well.
03:41Various stakeholders, from developers to builders,
03:44PG hostel owners, and coaching institute owners
03:48are hoping that old times will return.
03:52Earlier, we used to sell good stuff.
03:54Earlier, we used to sell for Rs. 10,000 a day.
03:56Now, we are selling for Rs. 2,000 a day.
03:59So, our business has fallen.
04:01It has fallen by 50 percent.
04:04The business has fallen by more than before.
04:06What are the reasons for this?
04:07The number of students is less in Kota.
04:09Last year, the number of students was very less.
04:11Everyone is very worried.
04:12Everyone is worried about this.
04:16With Devankar Vadhavan in Kota,
04:18Bureau Report, India Today.
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