New Delhi: In an attempt to address anxieties of students and parents, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will start from Wednesday the first phase of counseling for those appearing for board examinations this year.

Students can dial the toll-free number 1800-180-3456 between 8 a.m. to midnight from Feb 1 to April 16, 2012, said a CBSE official.

"The CBSE counseling is an outreach programme which is carefully designed keeping the heterogeneity of student population and geographical spread," she said.

Multiple modes of communication such as telephonic counseling, question answer columns in newspapers and online counseling through CBSE website is being used to reach out to more and more examinees.

"This year, approximately 67 experts, including principals, trained counselors from CBSE affiliated government and private schools and few psychologists are participating in tele-counselling," she said.

For the first time, counselors from Kendriya Vidyalyas, Jammu and Kashmir and Kolkata are participating in the initiative.

Besides, about 11 counselors from outside India, including from Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Nepal and Saudi Arabia, are participating in the program.

In 2010, CBSE introduced a Centralized Access System (CAS) similar to that of a call centre, where students could dial the number 1800-180-3456. IANS