Season 2 of the much-awaited show Kota Factory recently released on Netflix. The web series that tells the story of IIT-JEE aspirants in Kota, Rajasthan has received mixed reviews from the audience.
✨It’s ok if you haven’t started watching #KotaFactory yet✨
— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) September 24, 2021
Ab start kar lo 😌❤️ pic.twitter.com/CLufjrS3Ex
The show gives an honest look at the highly competitive environment in Kota, not many people are aware of. But here’s a bit more about Kota that you should know.
Kota was once a flourishing industrial city known for mining and manufacturing. It was a hub for small and medium manufacturing enterprises.
It was in the late 80s and early 90s, that Kota started gaining popularity for the preparation of engineering and medical entrance exams. Between 1983 and 1985, VK Bansal, an engineer by profession quit his job at JK Synthetics in Kota, and started teaching students at his home. He would teach Mathematics and also give students tips and tricks on how to crack the engineering entrance examinations.
One of his students cleared IIT-JEE exam in 1985 and this changed the face of the city forever.
A city that did not know anything about the formal system of coaching was now swamped with students day in and day out.
Starting from Bansal Classes, Allen Career Institute, etc. several other institutes like Resonance and Vibrant laid their foundations in Kota.
Today, around 1.5-2 lakh students enroll themselves at different coaching institutes in Kota every year. A typical day of any student starts at around 6 in the morning. Anirudh Sridharan, Chemistry Faculty at Allen Career Institute, talked to ScoopWhoop about the duration of classes in Kota. He said:
The classes in the morning batch start at 6 AM and continue till 1 PM. Another shift starts from 3 PM and runs till 8 PM.
Apparently, there is no availability of mental health counselling in the city, despite being a hub of education for teenagers.
Talwandi and Vigyan Nagar are two major areas in the city where you will find student PGs. The price of accommodation and food starts from ₹6,000 per month and goes up to ₹30,000 per month for luxurious hostels.
The city attracts educationists from across the country. Most of them are highly qualified professors and IIT graduates.
According to a report by The Print, the coaching industry in Kota directly or indirectly impacts the livelihoods of at least 2 lakh people in the city, including its 3,000 hostel and 20,000 paying guest (PG) accommodation owners, local vendors, shopkeepers, mess staff, auto drivers and security guards.
