India's hypercompetitive exam culture drives students to suicide

Cram school hub sees record deaths as pressure to succeed takes toll on young minds

20240724n India cramschools

Advertisements for a cram school in Kota, India, feature photos of some of their best-performing students. (B.L.Digital Studio Kota)

SATOSHI IWAKI, Nikkei staff writer

NEW DELHI -- When an Indian family in Uttar Pradesh state sent their 18-year-old daughter to a cram school in a neighboring state so that she could get an edge in her college entrance exams, they had no idea that would be the last time they would see her.

The daughter was an excellent student and wanted to be accepted into one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), considered to be among the country's top science schools. But when she called home from the school in Kota, Rajasthan state, the conversations often turned to how unhappy she was.

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