Tamil Nadu: Toll-free number for Class X students to cope with pressure

CHENNAI: The school education department in partnership with Unicef has launched a programme to support students taking Class X board exams this year amid the Covid-19 crisis. The programme titled 'Take it Eazy' is a toll-free number. Students can give a missed call to 9266617888 and will get a callback. They can then listen to short fun audio clips that speak about ways to cope with the pressure and other aspects they are going through during the pandemic.
"The audio clips are comical, funny, and also has quotes from movie characters just to grab their attention. It covers all topics, right from battling exam stress, staying locked indoors, not being able to hang out with their friends and every other issue the students might be dealing with at this time," said a senior official from the department.
He said this was in addition to the existing helplines meant for students.
Most of the teachers and principals in the city have already started asking their students to use this platform.
"Our greatest worry has been to ensure that students are well prepared to write the boards. We feel that a few of them have been finding it hard to prepare since they are locked indoors and are also distracted," said Jeeva Rani, a senior teacher from the government girls high school in T Nagar. She said though they have been regularly staying in touch with their students, exchanging books and lessons via Whatsapp, they are also counselling them so they do not lose focus.
"We are all waiting for the exam day to come, only then we'll know the results," she said.