Although the SSLC and PUC results have been announced six days ago, the aftermath is just unfolding. As many as six students have committed suicide in five days, dejected over their failure in SSLC and PUC examinations.
The Primary and Secondary Education Department does not have a dedicated helpline to help students deal with examination stress. This year, more than 8 lakh students have appeared for SSLC examination and nearly 6 lakh for PUC exams.
G Kumar Naik, Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education said, “The department does not have any dedicated line or telephone number for student counselling.”
Meanwhile, D Venkateshaiah, Director, Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) said, “The Board has ‘SSLC Sahayavani’ for students seeking answers to queries related to the examination. This number functions for about a month till the start of the examination only. Once the SSLC examinations commences, the services of the helpline is stopped.”
On the other hand, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) has a dedicated toll-free number to cater to examination-related queries and the emotional stress that students experience as they take up the board examinations.
V P Niranjan Aradhya, Programme Head, Universalisation of Equitable Quality Education Programme, Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), says that counselling should be institutionalised to extend support to students throughout the academic year. “Student counselling should not be treated as an isolated activity, instead it must become a part and parcel of curriculum. The degree of stress is definitely high during examinations and results but that does not indicate that there is no stress during the remaining period,” he said.
“The approach has to be institutionalised with consistent ways to help students tackle with the stress and peer pressure. Counselling for students must become a functional part of every institution, helping students to cope up with the life skills. Throughout the year, students have to be monitored and counselled, not just for exams, but for other life issues as well,” said Aradhya.