31 May,2011 06:19 AM IST | | Correspondents
For the first time, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has decided to start counselling helplines for board students to deal with post-results stress, a major abettor of student suicides.
Shahaji Dhekne, secretary of MSBSHSE, said that until recently, their helpline only catered to exam-related queries. "So far, the thrust of the helpline was to answer queries of students and that's why we kept it open only for a month starting a few days before the examination.
During these days, we would get calls regarding lost hall tickets, problems at centres, accidents and need for writers or calls from schools over paper mistakes, among others. But now the board is of the opinion that the helpline service should also start counselling students," said Dhekne.
He said qualified counsellors would man the helpline numbers from the day of announcement of results to a couple of weeks later and students who are depressed can call this helpline. "So far private organisations had been doing this job, but now the board has realised the importance of having a counselling line open for issues that students face after the declaration of results. Usually, the effect of a bad result sets in a few days later and that's when they need to talk to someone," he said.
