TNN | Nov 18, 2016, 09.53 AM IST
LUCKNOW: Mayank Sharma, a student of IIT-Kanpur's freshman batch (Y16) already feels worn out and is gradually losing interest in studies, thanks to Kota's rigorous coaching culture which has left him disillusioned.
In fact, 50% of the students at IIT-K who had studied at a coaching institute in Kota prior to joining IIT-K say they are worn out by the stress experienced at Kota.
As many as 59% respondents say stress levels are higher in Kota than at IIT-K, which provides a comparatively relaxed environment.
These are the findings of a `Kota Juggernaut Survey' at the institute which received responses from 212 undergraduate candidates who had studied at Kota before joining IIT. Conducted by IIT-K's campus newspaper, Vox Populi, the survey peeps into Kota's coaching culture.
Looking at Kota, a small city in Rajasthan, once known for its industries, which every year makes headlines for producing JEE toppers, the survey found that IIT teachers were not the best. Nearly 75% respondents said Kota faculty were better at teaching than the IIT-K professors. Professors may be stalwarts in research but then, teaching is a different art, says Vox Populi team.
"The basic idea to conduct the survey came after a spate of suicides at Kota post JEE results. We made our survey more inclusive to include factors like pressures students feel at Kota and how their lives vary at IIT-K from Kota.The survey aimed at finding out how the coaching hub influenced a student's life at IIT-K and the results were extremely surprising,'' said Vox Populi chief editor Karandeep Sharma.
The survey found that the poor quality of education in Indian schools pushed students to leave their homes and join coaching institutions in Kota. It also revealed that 94% of students were of the opinion that Kota's coaching institute teachers are far better than their school teachers.
As for suicides, parental pressure was cited as a major reason by an overwhelming 66.5% respondents.
This, says the `Vox Populi' team, echoes the sentiments of Kota DM who this year, in his open letter dedicated to all the parents of IIT aspirants made an emotional appeal by asking them "not to force their expectations and dreams on their children''. Stress, poor performance, loneliness and substance abuse are other reasons for suicides in Kota, shows the survey .
Shockingly , 80% respondents say that their stay in Kota has affected their creative side, a major cause of concern. Kota and Hyderabad, reports `Vox Populi', have often been projected as being a "factory of IITians", merely churning out products perfectly tuned for JEE, but illequipped with life skills.
The survey also validated the concept of dummy schools, an open secret, with 60% respondents saying they were enrolled in Kota's dummy schools. Another 42% respondents say they went to Kota to escape the conventional schooling system - which they considered either inadequate or a deterrent to the primary goal of "cracking" JEE.
Almost 23% went to Kota after listening to success stories of people they know. As many as 66% respondents joined Kota's coaching institutes in class 11.
