The district administration in Rajasthan’s Kota on Sunday stayed examinations at coaching centres for two months amid a surge in suicides among students preparing for engineering, medical and civil services examinations.

The administration took the decision hours after two students died by suicide in a single day. Their deaths took the number of suicides this year to 23 – the highest since 2015, The Indian Express reported.

Sunday’s first death was of a 17-year-old from Maharashtra’s Latur. He had been preparing for the National Eligibility Entrance Test and stayed with his grandparents in the city for the last three years.

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The police said he had jumped from the sixth floor of his coaching institute after taking a test.

Few hours later, an 18-year-old student from Bihar, who was also preparing for the medical entrance exam, was also found dead in his hostel room.

Doctor Bharat Singh Shekhawat told NDTV that no action has been taken by the Rajasthan government to curb the alarming rate of student deaths. The head of the psychiatry department at Kota Medical College said they had been suggesting measures to the authorities for the last 20 years.

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“Students who are admitted to coaching institutes at the age of 15 or 16 are too young,” he added. “They miss out on the benefits of school, such as extracurricular activities and friendships. They are also under a lot of stress due to the rigorous coaching schedule.”

Earlier this month, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had directed officials to form a committee to suggest measures to prevent suicides of students in Kota.

Gehlot had said that Class 9 and Class 10 students being enrolled in coaching institutes face an additional burden as they also need to appear for board examinations.

Subsequently, the administration in Kota had made it compulsory for hostels to install spring-loaded fans in a bid to prevent suicides.