Before Boards,counsellors flooded with calls from students

“I have been receiving anxious calls from parents and students. The parents’ queries range from what kind of movie should they take their child to and how can they help the child cope with the stress,” Geetanjali Kumar,a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) counsellor said.

Nearly 4,47,242 students from Classes X and XII will sit for the Board exams beginning Wednesday in the Capital. Of these,2,64,027 are students of government and government-aided schools. The total number of registered candidates across the country is 1,60,1640.

According to CBSE,52 principals besides trained counsellors from schools,psychologists and social scientists are operating helplines from Delhi,Noida,Chandigarh,Meerut,Jaipur,Faridabad,Bhubaneswar,Vishakhapatnam,Jamnagar,Bhopal,Nagpur,Bangalore,Guwahati and Pune. “There are also three helpline centres outside India at Kuwait,Dubai and Doha,” a CBSE official said.

Kumar says,“Parents are more worried than the child. There is a communication gap between parents and children. At times,parents want to say something but end up saying something else. I get calls from children who tell me that their parents are reminding them of their past failures. This puts the child under stress.”

There is more to the story. Anxious parents are even asking counsellors what kind of movies they should take the child to. “Some parents tell me 3 Idiots can have such damaging impact on their child. They even tell me that the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name is Khan is depressing and they don’t want to take the child to such a movie,” Kumar says. “I honour their opinion but I always try and reason it out with them.”

To reduce stress,the counsellor says,taking a stroll or watching birds fly is a sureshot remedy. “It is a tried and tested formula. One should take a walk in the garden as the atmosphere at home can be very stressful.”

Delhi statistics

* 6.32% increase in total number of candidates appearing for Class X Board this year against last year’s figures

* 9.28% increase in number of Class XII students

* 11.58% increase in number of Class X students appearing for Boards in government and government-aided schools

* 10.19% increase in Class XII

* The total number of examination centres in Delhi for both Class X and XII is 1,125

* Number of candidates in special categories — 810 in Class X and 649 in Class XII

* 8.65% overall increase in number of registered candidates appearing for Class X exams

* 8.80% increase in number of registered candidates in Class XII