Anxious about board exams? Call CBSE helpline from Sunday

New Delhi, Jan 31: To help students overcome anxiety and stress during board exams, several helpline numbers of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will start functioning Sunday.

As a part of the board's outreach programme this year, it will start telephonic counselling, question-answer columns in newspapers, interactive voice response system (IVRS) and online counselling through the CBSE website.

"All the above modes of communication will remain open from Feb 1 to Apr 2 with a view to reach out to more and more examinees and their parents during the board exams," CBSE communication officer Rama Sharma said.

There are about 39 helpline centres in India and four abroad - Kuwait, Dubai, Doha and Sharjah - that will cater to the queries round the clock of students appearing for the board exams.

"For the first time, CBSE has included special educators to take care of the specially abled children from centres located at Mumbai and Delhi," Sharma said.

"This year as many as 43 principals, trained counsellors from CBSE affiliated schools, psychologists and social scientists will operate the helplines individually from India and overseas," she said.