Examination made easier

As anxious students,parents and pranksters call the Maharashtra school board helpline,Anil Gadhe lends an ear

Its 8 am and the two landlines in room 108 of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education MSBSHSE,Mumbai division,at Vashi wont stop ringing. Anil Kumar Gadhe answers the calls and listens intently to the voices at the other end,asking the distressed callers to relax. Gadhe is one of the four teachers and counsellors appointed by the MSBSHSE for the Board exam season.

On reaching the Board office,Gadhe sinks into a chair with a cup of tea. Hes barely had a sip when the phone starts ringing. Sir,mala vaatat aahe ki me udyachya exam madhe naapaas hoin,mee kaay karu aata Sir,I think I am going to fail tomorrows exam,what do I do now, the caller asks. Gadhe sighs patiently and counsels the anxious student.

Gadhe,48,is an assistant teacher at Sharda Vidyamandir,Thane,and for a month during the exams,he doubles up as a counsellor. Gadhe has been with the Mumbai division Board helpline for four years now.

Students call to ask various questions,including which exam centre they have been allotted,and to confirm exam schedules. Many students call with genuine problems,some of them are anxious and worried. But most of the time,we get calls from students who ask trivial questions,sometimes they call just for fun. But whatever the question,we try our best to address their concerns with patience, says Gadhe.

Since the Board exams started in the last week of February,students have been calling in with queries ranging from exam dates,timings,examination centres and easy ways to prepare. From 8 am to 7 pm,Gadhe and three other counsellors at the board helpline answer 350-400 such calls. Many students vent their ire when the papers are tough. Students who reach their exam centres late call us,anxious and nervous. We ask them for their location,scan through a list of centres and direct them to the nearest centre and even get them extra time, Gadhe says.

The helpline was started five years ago to help students stuck in unfamiliar situationslike those who are unable to reach exam centres on time,have trouble with their hall tickets,or are distressed over their preparations.

While the helpline is for students in emergency and distress,weve been getting all kinds of calls. Sometimes,students call and say they were just checking if the number works! says Gadhe.

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Along with anxious students,Gadhe and his team also deal with concerned parents. We advise parents not to set high expectations from their children. Most students appearing for their exams are teens and they rely more on friends rather than parents and teachers. So,it is best to be patient and hear them out before offering solutions, says Gadhe.

He says,At times,students hold us responsible if they dont do well in the exams. Weve nothing to with paper-setting,but they think its because of us. We dont get offended; instead,we pacify them and tell them to focus on the next exam.

Laxmikant Pande,the chairman of the Mumbai divisional board,says that these counsellors are trained for the job. The pressure of exams is enormous,we expect students to nervous and they need to be handled with patience. These teachers are trained to help students.