COIMBATORE: Parents of a 15-year-old student from Salem were very much worried about their ward not being aware that he has to appear for the board examination this year.
After efforts to make the student concentrate on studies failed, the worrisome parents then dialed '104' (Tamil Nadu Health Department's helpline). Counsellors on the other end told the parents not to add pressure on the minor, forcing him to study. Parents were also told to provide guidance and motivation to their ward.
This is one such example of how counsellors provide instant solutions to parents as well as students who are facing exam anxiety, among various other issues.
Exam time
With the board examinations set to commence by the first week of March, the State government-operated helpline numbers (104 and 14417) have been buzzing with calls, said sources.
Officials state that '14417' (Tamil Nadu School Education Department's helpline number) has been receiving 4,000 calls on a daily-basis.
While the 14417 helpline provides advice only on education, 104 helpline on the other hand addresses major issues such as suicide prevention and anxiety. If need be, counsellors will also tell callers about healthy food that should be taken during exams.
A senior official said, "Private candidates re-appearing for exams with the help of tutorial institutes seek our help on timetable and also seek counselling. Some students even call us to get their doubts addressed. By readily having a subject teacher available, students shall be provided instant suggestions."
C Sivagurunathan, Head of Operations of '104' helpline number said students were presently given phase-one of examination counselling.
"During this counselling process, students are educated on exam preparation, methods of studying, sleeping hours, and food habits. Similarly, we shall tell them about stress management and things that need to be done at exam time during phase-two of the counselling process," he said.
Prevention is better than cure
While helping students beat exam stress is a huge process, counsellors working with the 104 helpline also offer ways to manage stress and most importantly to evade suicidal thoughts.
"Once a caller dials our helpline, they shall be questioned about basic identity details and their issue. Later, the caller gets a registration number which could be used when speaking with the executive again," said an official.
"We would first listen to the caller to figure out what issue they are facing. The issue could sometimes be frustration or stress, or even love failure, which has invoked suicidal thoughts in them. We would provide supportive therapy to them," said the official.
Since '86
Similarly, the Sneha Suicide Prevention Helpline (044 -2464000) has been offering free call-on support since 1986. Its founder Lakshmi Vijayakumar said they usually receive 60 calls per day, and sometimes e-mails too.
She explained, "A few people call us while facing a crisis, while some call us up when suicidal thoughts pop-up in their mind. We speak to them and the calls can last anywhere between 30 minutes to one hour."
Mostly, people aged between 15 and 29 years call Sneha helpline over issues over academics, friends, and family, Lakshmi added.
Helpline number:
- TN Health Department Helpline- 104
- TN School Education Department Helpline- 14417
- Sneha Suicide Prevention Helpline- 044-24640050
Daily calls statistics:
- Number of calls received at 104 helpline- 350
- Number of calls received at 14417 helpline- 4,000
* Number of calls made by students during the exam time - Nearly 10,000 (on a daily-basis)