SSC exam and results see calls on helpline, but it's a trickle

The past couple of weeks, concerned parents have been making calls to psychiatrists and counsellors on the helpline set up for queries related to the SSC exam results.
u00a0
Though the number of calls is not much, about one a day, the thing to note is that more parents make such calls than students.

Exam to results
The psychiatrists and counsellors say the calls start from examination time, which is February, and continues till September.

There are also people who walk in seeking help.

Dr Bhalchandra Kelmegh, a psychiatrist, said he had only a couple of people coming to him since the beginning of the examination, and they were students.

"I have been guiding them to cope with examination pressure. The students are under so much stress that they are unable to concentrate on their studies. After the results, I received calls from them informing me that they had got fairly good marks," said Kelmegh.

Aparna Thakar, another psychiatrist, said students who had passed both Std 10 and 12 board exams made calls.

"In fact I have got more calls after HSC results were out, as the pass percentage was not as expected. They are so lost because it's the beginning of their career and they start feeling stressed out because of it. I have received four to five calls in the last two weeks."

Difficult questions
More parents than their children are seeking help, said a couple of other counsellors who did not wish to be named.

Parents find it difficult answering relatives and friends who ask about their children's performance in exams.

"Since Thursday my office has received around three walk-ins and several calls for guidance," said Dr Amod V Borkar, a psychiatrist. "More parents have come to me than children. Parents find it difficult to cope with the fact that their children have not been able to do well in their examination. They are also worried that after the results are out, their children will go into depression."

A counsellor said that after Saturday morning's suicide case, they had received about two calls from parents who were very concerned about their children.