OBJECTIVES: Over 2 lakh students from every nook and corner of India come to Kota, the coaching hub, every year to prepare for qualifying medical/engineering entrance tests. Students here have been grabbing the top All India Ranks in engineering and medical entrance exams which are among world’s toughest exam. A culture of competition and pressure to perform best generate excessive stress and anxiety among students which is proving to be detrimental to their mental health. Recent statistics reveal that the suicide rate among coaching students is on rise with 32 suicides officially recorded in 2023 and 17 suicides officially recorded in Kota till May 2024. Therefore, a need for a holistic study addressing coaching student’s life was felt. This study focused on objectives to identify student’s daily schedule, level of stress, sources of stress, techniques/suggestion to overcome stress.

METHODS: Structured questionnaire with Academic Stress Scale developed by Rajendran and Kaliappan(1991) was used to understand personal/demographic profile and sources of stress among 500 students of 4 coaching institutes of Kota. DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale) which has been validated as a screening tool in a variety of socio-demographic conditions was used to assess subjective depressive and anxiety feelings in students. Data was analysed using factor analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA.

RESULTS: A strong correlation was found between lifestyle and level of stress. Hectic schedule of coaching classes with time consuming homework, weekly tests, confrontation with pressure to achieve best, parent’s expectations to perform excellent, financial load to pay exorbitant fees were major causes of student stress.

CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the sources of stress has helped district administration to formulate a separate policy for preventing coaching students from stress. As a result coaching institutes are developing effective counseling module/intervention strategy for students to overcome stress and stop resorting to suicide.