New Delhi: As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) gets set to declare its Class 10 and 12 results, hundreds of nervous students and anxious parents are calling help lines and psychiatrists for counselling. "For the last three weeks we have been receiving at least 20 calls every day. Today, we received some 50 calls and most of them are from students," said Abdul Mabood, director of the Delhi-based non-governmental organisation Snehi.

Snehi runs a student helpline to counsel and guide scholars before, during, and after exams. The helpline, christened 'Hopeline', gets maximum calls before exams, and before and after the declaration of results.

Mabood, who is also a counsellor, said many students want to know about the marking pattern, and what they will do if they fail to live up to expectations.

"What if I fail? How will I show my face to my family? Will I get a good college? These are some questions that students regularly ask us," he told IANS.

CBSE will announce the Class 12 board examination results in two phases. The results of three zones - Ajmer, Panchkula and Chennai - were declared on Wednesday in the first phase. Over 92 percent of students from the Chennai zone have passed the CBSE Class 12 examination.

In the second phase, the results of the remaining three zones - Delhi, Allahabad and Guwahati along with foreign schools - would be declared on Friday.

Over 548,000 students sat for the Class 12 CBSE exams this year. Similarly, over 800,000 students had appeared for the Class 10 board exams in India and abroad. The Class 10 results are expected next week.

Speaking about how to handle the stress before and after results, Samir Parikh, a leading psychiatrist of Delhi, said parents must refrain from putting pressure on children and students should avoid negative thoughts.

"Exams are neither monsters nor killers. They need to be seen as a life skill that helps in overall development and enhancement as children grow up into mature adults so that they can cope with the stresses of life better," Parikh said.

"What is needed is the clinical approach for those students who have vulnerability in exams because of various factors and help needs to be given to them at the earliest so that nothing untoward happens."

He said today's students not only carry the burden of clearing the exams but also excelling as per the family's expectations. Be it parents, teachers or other classmates, one is praised and branded as good only when a student scores above 90 percent marks.

Advising students on how to handle anxiety and stress, he said rather than feeling guilty, "ask yourself what the real problem is… and how to solve it".

Mabood, who has been counselling students for 10 years, said that out of sheer stress, students are losing sleep, confining themselves to their rooms and even weeping in fear of scoring less than their expectations.

"All these are building anxiety and its here that parents need to cooperate and help them distress." IANS