Bangalore: The announcement of the 10th standard and pre-university results saw a spate of suicides in the city by those who could not come to terms with their failure.

With a little support from parents and the right counselling about the opportunities available to them, students can be prevented from taking the extreme step, say counsellors.

"Sahai," a suicide prevention helpline (ph: 25497777) project of Medico-Pastoral Association, a voluntary organisation working in the field of mental health, has been helping many students and their parents to tide over the dilemma.

The helpline received as many as 30 calls in the past two days from students who have either failed or got low marks in their 10th standard or PU examinations.

"Most of the students were dejected as they could not take up the discipline of their choice because of low marks or could not join a professional course. Many of the youngsters were petrified to face their parents and relatives and did not want to go home," Lata Jacob, senior counsellor at "Sahai" told The Hindu . Parents who called did not know what to be done next and how to help their children, she said.

"We have told them to apply for copies of answer scripts and to ask for re-evaluation if they felt that they should have got more marks," she said.

"We asked the students to take an aptitude test so that they would know what discipline suited them best. The helpline refers the callers to career counsellors and agencies who conduct personality development workshops to build the confidence of students," Ms. Lata said.

Suicide prevention volunteers

"Sahai" has also taken up a unique initiative among college students and has trained students from five colleges in the city as "suicide prevention volunteers," who will help their peers and classmates who may be going through a crisis.

The Medico-Pastoral Association, under their project "Sahai," also runs a school mental health programme for children from the poor sections of society.

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