Coaching centers in Rajasthan to have counsellors, entertainment centers to check suicides

Jaipur: Worried over the increasing number of suicide cases – particularly in Kota, the Rajasthan is planning to make it mandatory for all the coaching institutes to appoint a psychological counsellor, set up entertainment centers near coaching and hostels and launch tech-based feedback system. The state government has been facing flak for not taking any action in the matter of suicides by coaching students in Kota.

The Rajasthan education department has prepared a guideline in this regard. The guidelines will be discussed in a meeting by a high-level meeting of bureaucrats on April 17. A committee had been constituted under the supervision of principal secretary Naresh Pal Gangwar.

The Rajasthan government had enlisted the services of Tata Institute of Social Science to prepare a report on the suicide cases. Based on the recommendations from the institute, the guidelines have been prepared.

Here are some of the important points in the guideline:

• Students should be able to register complaints or give feedback through a software program. The complaints should be addressed within 48 hours by a committee headed by the concerned district collector.
• Coaching institutes should not make the results of the regular tests public.
• Coaching institutes should mention in their advertisements that they don’t guarantee admission in engineering and medical.
• Coaching institutes should make their refund policies public (For students who want to drop out)
• There should be a playground or an entertainment center near coaching institutes or hostels. The local civic body should open them in collaboration with coaching institutes.
• Each coaching institute should have a permanent psychological counsellor.
• Special help desks at police stations for coaching institutes