HSC students keep counsellors busy with calls

With 2,13,996 students from the Pune division sitting for their first paper of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams beginning today, the state education board officials manning the helplines are busy answering the former’s queries.

The staff managing these numbers at the office of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) receive about 30 calls daily on a variety of topics like wrong exam centre, problems with hall tickets, exam stress and timetable.

“Most of the calls are related to confusion over exam centres. Students have either not taken down the correct information or have incomplete information like they know the name of the centre but don’t know their sub-centre. We provide them with complete address and ask them to personally check the exam centres a day in advance if possible. Another common problem is confusion over timetable which is surprising as all colleges have displayed it on their campus, and it is available on the board’s website too,” said Gita Hadgekar, a board employee manning helpline.

Sharadchandra Botekar, a student counsellor appointed by the board, said of receiving about 40-45 calls in a day on his cellphone. “The maximum calls are regarding hall tickets, especially from the students of Solapur area who say that they haven’t received hall tickets yet. Many say that they cannot recall what they have studied so far, so we counsel them until they become calm. Students also ask specific subject related questions,” he said.