Meet the counsellors helping students navigate board exam anxiety

Murlidhar More, a counsellor at Mumbai division’s official helpline, attends calls from SSC and HSC students. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Hello, mi Murlidhar More. Bola..." (This is Murlidhar More, please tell me... ). This has become a daily ritual for teacher and trained counsellor Murlidhar More, who has been serving as an in-office counsellor at the Maharashtra State Board's Mumbai divisional office helpline for the past 15 years.

I am a full-time teacher and a trained counsellor. Every year, during board exams, I attend calls and address students' concerns between 2 pm and 7 pm. Over the years, I've learned how to stay calm and handle students' issues - no matter how trivial they may seem to us. What may appear insignificant to us can be a huge problem for them," he explains.

Board exams pressure

Board exams are often considered a crucial milestone in a student's life, shaping their future and, in turn, leading to immense pressure. This stress can sometimes push students into anxiety, depression, or even suicidal thoughts. Recognising this, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has set up helpline services with counsellors at each division to support students and parents in distress.

Murlidhar More

In Mumbai, two counsellors are stationed at the board's Vashi office from 9 am to 7 pm in two shifts - 9 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 7 pm. Additionally, 11 other on-call counsellors assist students remotely. More is one of the two in-office counsellors at the Mumbai division. He notes that while students frequently call the helpline, parents are often more anxious than their children.

With HSC exams already underway and SSC exams starting today, parental anxiety is at its peak. "Sometimes, it feels like parents are the ones appearing for the exams," More says with a chuckle. "Almost 40-50 per cent of the calls I receive are from parents, all with the same concern: ‘My child is not studying enough. What can I do to make them study more?'"

Advice for parents

More advises parents not to overburden their children. "It's understandable that parents want their children to perform well, but once the exams begin, there's little that can be changed. Academic success is built on year-long preparation, not last-minute pressure. Don't hound your children to study harder - ensure they have some recreational activities and get enough sleep. Excessive worrying only transfers unnecessary pressure onto them," he emphasises. During exam season, each counsellor receives at least 10-12 calls daily on their mobile phones, in addition to queries on the board's landline.

Common student concerns

Shrikant Shingare, a science teacher and the other in-office counsellor at the Vashi office, has been working as a board-appointed counsellor for over a decade. He notes that students call with a variety of concerns - some technical, others seemingly minor but significant to them.

"They ask about discrepancies between the official timetable and the ones circulating on social media, the type of pen they are allowed to use, whether water bottles are permitted in the exam hall, or what to do in case of mistakes on their hall tickets. Some even panic about being late to their exam centres or how to study for a particular subject," Shingare shares.

Counsellors like More and Shingare respond calmly and provide clear guidance. "For hall ticket errors, we advise students to contact their school for corrections. If a student is running late, we coordinate with centres to allow them to take the exam at the nearest available centre, marking their paper with an emergency barcode for identification. We constantly remind students not to believe everything they see on social media and to check the board's official website for accurate information. In fact, for the past two years, exam timetables have been printed directly on hall tickets to avoid confusion," Shingare explains.

More adds, "Our role goes beyond just answering queries - it's about reassuring students and parents, ensuring that exams don't become a source of undue panic. Sometimes, we even get calls from outside the Mumbai division. In such cases, we calm them down, redirect the calls, and share the contact details for their respective divisional board. Since these are mobile numbers, we sometimes receive calls at odd hours, but we still try our best to help."

Some trivial yet common questions the board helplines receive

1. I keep forgetting my lessons. How should I study?
2. My son/daughter doesn't study. Can you talk to them?
3. What pen should I use? Are black pens allowed?
4. Should my child wear a uniform or casual clothes for the exam?
5. Why isn't my exam centre allowing transparent writing pads when the board permits them?
6. I'm late for my exam. I missed my bus. What should I do?

Mumbai Divisional Board Exam Helpline Details
To assist students and parents with examination-related inquiries, the Mumbai Divisional Board has set up a Control Room for Exam Queries, operational from February 4, from 9 am to 7 pm daily.
Helpline Numbers: 022-27893756/022-27881075

Control Room Support Team
Kalpana Pawar (Assistant Superintendent & Assistant Secretary) 9423476023
Charushila Adhav (Assistant Superintendent) 9890261046

Counseling Support Team
Shrikant Shingare (In-office) 9869634765
Murlidhar More (In-office) 7977919850/9322105618
Hayalij V K 9423947266
Anil Kumar Gadhe 9969038020
Vikas Jadhav 9867874623
Vinod Panhalkar 9527587789
Sanjay Jadhav
9422594844/9657079344
Chandrakant Mundhe 8169699204
Ashok Sarode
9322527076/8888830139
Shailaja Mulye 9820646115
Sheikh Razzak 9967329370
Sneha Chavan 8369015013
Ujwala Zare 9920125827

Exam Schedule for Friday, February 21
11.00 am - 2.00 pm (First Language): Marathi | Hindi | Urdu | Gujarati | Kannada | Tamil | Telugu | Malayalam | Sindhi | Bengali | Punjabi
3.00 pm - 6.00 pm (Second or Third Language): German | French

Numbers as of February 20, afternoon
Number of students granted special permissions or concessions for SSC board exams: 2893
Centre change requests: 451
Requests for writers: 23

The MSBSHSE provides a detailed list of concessions for students with disabilities appearing for the SSC examinations. These concessions apply to students with 21 different types of disabilities.