Ahead of the exam season, which begins in March, the School Education department is considering adding more operators and counsellors to the toll free helpline 14417 to help students, parents and teachers deal with any queries they might have.
It has been a year of several changes in both the syllabus and exams for students of the State board stream.
“While we will be creating awareness about the helpline among students, parents and teachers, we are planning to add more people to field calls during the exam season this year. The helpline gets the maximum calls when the public exams are being conducted,” said S. Kannappan, Director of School Education.
This year, classes V, VIII, X, XI and XII will be taking up public exams. Ahead of the exam season, the officials in-charge of the helpline said that they had been taking queries from private candidates about registrations.
“From when it was set up in March 2018 to December 2019, the helpline has received over 2.56 lakh calls. While there are counsellors who handle the calls we get from students related to stress and anxiety, teachers, who are subject experts, will be present a couple of days before each public exam to address queries the students might have in the subject in which they will take up the exam,” said Francis Joseph, who heads the 14417 Education Information Centre.
With students of classes V and VIII taking up the public exam for the first time this year, a counsellor with the helpline said that they had been getting calls from students about the portions they are going to be tested in. “Our aim is to ensure they do not feel the pressure,” she added.
