In order to soothe the frayed nerves of the candidates, the Central Board of Secondary Education, on Tuesday, launched its pre-exam counselling sessions.
With the season of board exams setting in from March, students are beginning to feel the heat to perform better and better. In order to soothe the frayed nerves of the candidates, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), on Tuesday, launched its pre-exam counselling sessions.
The series of sessions will come to an end on April 13. They have been designed to help students and parents deal with exam-related stress and overcome anxiety.
In a bid to cushion the students, CBSE has designed multiple modes of communication, including telephonic counselling, question-answer columns in newspapers, interactive voice response system and online counselling through CBSE’s dedicated website (www.cbse.nic.in), in order to reach out to more and more examinees.
These sessions will be offered free of cost and the identity of the students and parents will be protected.
Additionally, there’s a toll-free helpline number 1800 11 7002, which the students can access from any part of the country.
“Counselling will be done by trained counsellors and principals from within CBSE-affiliated schools located in and outside India. It is a voluntary and free-of-cost service provided by the participants,” said Vineet Joshi, chairperson of CBSE.
“The counselling sessions are part of the outreach programmes of CBSE, and have been carefully designed keeping in mind the heterogeneity of students’ population and their geographical spread.”
About 49 principals, trained counsellors from CBSE affiliated government and private schools and few psychologists are part of CBSE’s tele-counselling group. The counsellors will address exam-related psychological problems of the students. Apart from India, counsellors will also address issues of children from Dubai, Doha, Qatar, Kuwait and Japan.
“While general queries will be answered by the operators, students will be connected to the principals or counsellors in case of exam-related anxiety or stress,” said an official of CBSE.
“The board has also arranged to provide counselling to differently-abled children.”
In a first of its kind attempt, CBSE has made a unique effort to provide tele-counselling through IVRS mode. Students can avail the service, which is available on BSNL on 12501022.
“Experts from CBSE will also answer queries of students through weekly question-answer columns to be published in various national newspapers. Online counselling can also be availed by students and parents by logging into CBSE’s website where they can interact with CBSE chairperson on exam-related issues,” said the official.
Experts say that bogged down by the pressures of today’s competitive world, students undergo a lot of stress and if not helped at the right moment, some might even get suicidal owing to pre-exam jitters.
“For children, board exams are a make- or break-period of their career. Candidates are under tremendous pressure to perform well. Under such situation, students might feel stressed out and sometimes suicidal too. During this strenuous period, a few youngsters also try their hands on drugs and other substance abuse,” said Manjula Raman, a counsellor.
Raman said that parents and teachers should support students and help them deal with exam pressure.
“Students should study regularly, eat properly, sleep well and do needful exercises like yoga to keep stress at bay,” said Raman.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}