The State Education Helpline 14417 has launched a pilot programme in an effort to identify school dropouts and counsel them to continue their education.
The programme was started on a pilot-basis after the half-yearly exams in five districts – Karur, Krishnagiri, Salem, Tirunelveli and Tiruvannamalai. “We identified the students who had skipped attending the exams during the half-yearly session. Once the reason was ascertained, we would counsel them and follow it up too,” said Shilpi Shukla, Call Center Head.
Over 7,500 calls were made in these districts to students who had skipped the exams and the major reason was found to be exam stress or low confidence. “We picked these districts through the Educational Management Information System, as it recorded the highest number of students who were absent. While some students were no longer interested in studies, others skipped the exams due to stress and lack of confidence. Our psychologists then offered guidance to them to cope up,” said Ms. Shilpi.
A dedicated team of five psychologists counsel the students. “About 38 students were found to be stressed due to the exams. Today, they have gone back to school. We also follow up with them to ensure that they can cope better with the ensuing public exams,” she added.
Once public exams conclude, the helpline centre plans to call the absentees to urge them to take the supplementary exam. “The alumni of the school would also be mobilised if required to give them moral support to take the exam,” Ms. Shilpi said.
Since March 2023, the helpline has received 2,96,609 calls of which the highest were regarding the School Management Committee at 1,30,358. While career guidance counselling calls were at 46,824 and from model schools it was 11,005. About 94,164 were abandoned calls.
Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi also inaugurated a ticketing system for the helpline on Monday. “We receive about five to six calls from students complaining about special classes, verbal abuse among others. With this system they get a dedicated complaint number via SMS to track the status of the complaint,” she added.
According to the official, the helpline also tackles calls regarding child marriage and receives about three calls a month on marriage and six calls pertaining to child sexual abuse.
EOM
