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SSC, HSC exam stress: Pune district counsellor fielding at least 20 calls per day
Ramesh Patil, who is an authorised counsellor for Pune district as per the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, is trying to help students deal with exam stress
In the last 30 days, professor Ramesh Patil has received at least 300 calls students of Class 10 and Class 12, appearing for their ongoing board exams.
Patil, who is an authorised counsellor for Pune district as per the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, is trying to help students deal with exam stress.
Currently, the board’s Higher secondary certificate (HSC - Class 12) and State secondary certificate (SSC - Class 10) exams are going on in the state and most students feel the pressure. The board has appointed counsellors in every district for the duration of the exams.
The HSC exams are on till March 20 and the SSC exams, which began on March 1, will end on March 22.
“I am doing this counselling work during HSC and SSC exams for the last six years and the number of daily calls is on the rise this year. Everyday, on an average, I get 20 to 25 calls from students, which earlier was 15 calls a day. For HSC exams, half of the calls are from students of the Science stream, who find their papers and subjects hard. So through proper counselling and giving them study solutions we try to ease the exam pressure,” says Patil.
“The major problem with students is fear, though they have prepared well. On the other hand, high expectations from parents make students nervous. Sometimes, their confidence is low. We have a method of counselling when we receive the call – first we taken the student in confidence, understand his/her problem, reason behind it - as to whether it is a family problem, study problem or anything else and then, given them solutions to resolve it,” explained Patil.
“This counselling is done only during exam times, but I suggest that schools should have counselling sessions every month for SSC and HSC students. Also, the helpline numbers of counsellors should be printed on hall tickets, so that students can easily get help. Most importantly, parent awareness is key as they play a major role during the exams. If parents support the child, students will not be stressed.” added Patil.
Case studies
Sharing his counselling experiences, Professor Ramesh Patil says, “I got a call from an SSC student who finished what he felt was a hard paper. He was blaming the board for setting tough papers. He was very aggressive. He had suicidal thoughts coming up. So I first calmed him and listened to everything. I made him realise how studying is important and not to blame the situation. We were talking for almost an hour and finally he came back to normal. He called back when he got his results - he passed.”
“An HSC girl student, who was adopted, was planning to run away before the exams. I counselled her and told her how it will be difficult for her in the world and the challenges of living alone. It helped her change her mind and go for the exams,” he added.
Parents on the line: Mobile addiction
The helpline number gets calls from parents complaining that their wards are addicted to mobile phones and are not studying for the exams. “It is a major problem nowadays and regularly I get calls from parents, and even from students, that mobile phone and video game addiction is a major issue. In most cases we would suggest parents take the child to a psychiatrist.”