The Central Board of Secondary Education has a similar service that helps students in need, but only those who are about to write the board exams. This new initiative will be slightly different. Its counsellors will advise children even in lower classes, particularly when annual exams are around the corner.

Department officials are in the process of finalising the telephone numbers for this helpline which is expected to be operational by the second week of this month. DPI (S) S K Setia told Newsline: “We have put two counsellors on the job. They will be available for a couple of hours every day to speak to students.” The counsellors will concentrate on allaying fears related to exams, officials said. There will soon be another helpline, education department officials said — one that will take queries from students in case they have doubts about the syllabi of subjects or if they have not been able to understand a particular chapter. A senior official said teachers from different government schools will be asked to clarify these doubts for which they will be paid separately.