AB KYA HOGA...? Students flood tele-helpline number to beat exam blues

• Tele-MANAS helpline: 14416-1800-914416
• Each call last for almost 50 minutes

What is Tele MANAS?

• Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across the States (Tele-MANAS), is an initiative of the union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and the Telangana Health Department for counseling people with stress-related problems
• To help the students to overcome the stress, initiatives taken by TSIBE
• 2019 - TSBIE appoints one counselor for taking mental healthcare calls
• 2020 | Five more counselors’ numbers were made available for students
• 2023 | TSBIE circulates number of tele-MANAS helpline

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Management, fear of failure, unable to memorise certain topics

Hyderabad: With just a few days left for the Intermediate Public Examination (theory papers) to commence, Tele MANAS, the designated helpline number of Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) was flooded with calls and the majority of questions asked by students to the counselors were whether they would clear the exam or not and also how to overcome study pressure.

Just two days ago, the inter practical examinations have started, the toll-free number (14416- 1800-914416) has been receiving more than 150 to 200 calls daily. Last year to help the students to overcome exam pressure TSBIE has taken the decision to take the help of the Tele-MANAS helpline number that would resolve the exam anxiety among the students. Around 20 counselors are doing this tele counseling for 24*7 shift wise and the control room is being set up at Vengal Rao Nagar.

According to counselors who are managing the helpline, pointed out that, as intermediate practical exams have just begun, the number of calls is increasing day to day. Time management, fear of failure, and inability to memorise certain topics, these are common questions that students are asking them.

“Whenever we are receiving any call from inter-student, first we try to figure out what is bothering them and then after talking to them for a while, with their speaking style we are able to analyse, what is the issue. In most calls we found that students are becoming anxious that they will not be able to score good marks, as they are unable to remember a few topics, another main concern was pressure from family members and college management which also took a toll on the student’s mental health,” said a counselor at Tele-MANAS.

“Stress-related issues are very common among students during every exam season. The solutions that we are suggesting are that students need adequate sleep, they should be calm and in whatever subject there are finding difficulties, they should practice it more and a proper timetable should be set , so that will them ease their stress level and can perform well in the exam,” said another counselor at Tele-MANAS.

If there is any need for the student to visit the hospital, we are referring them to visit the nearby district hospitals where district mental health clinics are set up in government hospitals, she added.