Schools to tackle exam stress in Pimpri-Chinchwad

With higher secondary (HSC) and secondary (SSC) examinations approaching, many educational institutions in Pimpri-Chinchwad have taken steps to de-stress the students appearing for the examinations.

The focus is on organising meditation, counselling sessions for parents and students and prescribing proper diet for students during examination. The HSC examinations are beginning from February 22 and the SSC from March 1.

A few schools have even sourced private agencies to tackle the problem of exam-related stress among students.

The Nigdi-Pradhikaran-based Chinchwad Malyalam Samaj (CMS) high school hired an agency ‘We Solve’ to deal with stress-related issues. A 10-member team of experts of the agency counsel students, teachers as well as parents. The experts include physiologists, educationists and medical practitioners.

CMS general secretary TP Vijayanan told DNA that such exercises take place round the year for students of standards VIII to X. “When examinations approach, we give more emphasis on such exercises,” he added, claiming that their results are fruitful.

The experts speak with the students personally and even help the parents and teachers in dealing with examinations. He said there are certain teachers, who behave negatively with children due to their personal problems, which may cause stress among children. The team deals with such issues too.

According to Vijayanan, the experts’ team had helped many students to boost their confidence level. “The exercise is so fruitful that even parents of such students were pleasantly surprised seeing their children taking part in various programmes and speaking in front of large gatherings in school programmes,” he said.

Jnana Prabodhini High School, Nigdi, conducts yoga, meditation and pranayam for de-stressing the students. School principal Suman Shenoy told DNA the school had been organising pranayam and meditation exercises on a regular basis.

“We also advise parents to allow the children to play to relieve the stress. We have a psychologist available for counselling if needed,” Shenoy added.

Parveen Baid,  principal of Pimpri-based Arya Samaj Vidya Mandir High School and Junior College, said a provision has been made to counsel the students in case they feel nervous before the exams.

Moreover, teachers have been strictly advised to reach out to the students appearing for the examination in case they seek their help. “We maintain very friendly relationship with students,” Baid added.

Nigdi-based Modern High School and Junior college principal, VA Wagh, said the school organised parents’ meets to make students stress-free. “We recently organised a seminar for the students on the issue. We told parents not to ask their children about a question paper and start calculating the marks that they would be getting after appearing for one paper.”

“The child should be allowed to concentrate on the next paper. We guide them about their diet during the exam,” Wagh said.