Sunday, February 1, 2009

CBSE counsellors to help Class X students

The Central Board of Secondary Education is streamlining its telecounselling facility that it has had for a number of years to guide anxious Class X students gearing up for their examinations. Officials say counsellors will be better equipped to handle both emotional as well as administrative questions from now.
The board has also increased the number of cities where the telecounselling facility is available by nearly 50%; the facility will be offered in 25 cities and telecounselling will start in another month.
"We found counsellors were usually well-equipped to handle students' emotional problems related to anxiety and academic pressure but they were often not sure of how to assist those who called in with queries related to the examination procedure,'' CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said.
At a recent conference in Delhi, telecounsellors were briefed on various procedures related to CBSE exams, including personalised queries such as what a student should do if the examination admit card was yet to arrive.
School principals, teachers and telecounsellors who want to clear their doubts on procedural issues can now call the CBSE controller of examinations every day between 4 pm and 8 pm.
"If telecounsellors do not have the answer to a particular query from a student, they will now guide the student to the CBSE's own interactive website, where there is a separate section for Frequently Asked Questions. If their doubts remain unanswered, they have the option of sending in their queries and suggestions to the board. There is a separate section on the website through which students can interact directly with the chairman,'' Joshi said.
"I think the board is doing its best to reach out to a wider cross-section of children before the examinations,'' R N Podar School principal Avnita Bir said, adding that an increasing number of children was calling the helpline before the exams.
The CBSE board has, off late, been flooded with queries that go beyond the purview of the board. Students in search of career guidance, for instance, often dial and have been known to ask questions like: "If I want to pursue architecture, which college should I apply to?''

CBSE helpline for exam-related counselling

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will provide counselling to students and parents during examinations to overcome anxiety and examination-related stress, from February 1 to April 2 in the first phase.
The helpline service is carefully designed keeping the heterogeneity of student population and geographical spread in mind. Multiple modes of communication such as telephonic counselling, question-answers columns in newspapers, interactive voice response system (IVRS) and online counselling through CBSE website will be deployed to reach out to more and more examinees during this phase, sources said.
This year, as many as 43 principals, trained counsellors from CBSE-affiliated government and private schools, psychologists and social scientists will operate this helpline individually from India and overseas.
For better accessibility and convenience of students, the centres have been arranged state-wise and students are advised to call the numbers closer to their location, specially while dialling from mobile phones.
CBSE has also launched a programme called Interact with its chairman on the official website cbse.nic.in, which will also be useful for exam-related issues. Frequently asked questions have also been put up here.
Director (academic) and controller of examinations, CBSE can also be contacted for on-line counselling on: diracad.cbse@yahoo.co.in or mcsharma2007@rediffmail.com.
Information relating to examinations and techniques to cope with exam-related anxiety is also provided at the CBSE website www.cbse.in & http://www.cbseguess.com/by accessing the helpline icon.