With the T.N. Class 12 State Board exam results announced on Monday, May 6, 2024, the Health Department has launched counselling services through its health helpline ‘104’ and TeleMANAS (“Natpudan Ungalodu Mananala Sevai”) at ‘14416’.
The helplines were launched by the State government to counsel students enrolled for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and students have not passed the Class 12 board examinations.
In the academic year 2022-23, psychological counselling was provided to 46,932 students who did not qualify in the Class 12 board examinations. During counselling, 146 students (82 boys and 64 girls) were identified as ‘high risk’, and were referred to, and followed up by, the district psychiatrists and psychologists of District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) for continuous monitoring to ensure their well-being, according to a press release.
In the current year 2023-24, 7,60,606 students appeared for the exams. As per the Department of School Education, 51,919 students were not successful. The line list of these 51,919 students (32,164 boys and 19,755 girls) was given to the Health Department to facilitate counselling services.
The counselling services are being provided with the support of 30 help desks with 100 counsellors from the Health Department through the 104 helpline and TeleMANAS 14416 call centre in three shifts, with 30 counsellors in each shift, the release said.
Through this, high risk students will be identified and referred to the district teams for further counselling and follow-ups.
Students in distress can contact the 104 Health helpline and 14416 TeleMANAS facility.