Guwahati, Feb. 19: From managing exam stress to understanding drug abuse, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has started a project to equip teachers of city schools to help their students lead a positive life.

A daylong tutor training workshop was organised at Don Bosco School, Panbazar, on Monday. The NIOS conducted the workshop via video conferencing from its Noida headquarters in Delhi.

NIOS is an "open school" which caters to the needs of a heterogeneous group of learners up to pre-degree level. This project is part of its learners' engagement activities.

"Altogether 25 teachers from six high schools in and around Panbazar participated in Monday's workshop. While HIV and AIDS expert Nidhi Rawat had an interaction with teachers on issues such as managing stress during exams, understanding drug abuse, know HIV for no HIV, discussion on a healthy lifestyle for children was conducted by Dr Neeraj Goyal. They were engaged by NIOS as resource persons for the workshop," Madhumita Pathak, NIOS coordinator at Don Bosco School study centre, told The Telegraph today.

Pathak said NIOS has already engaged many other schools in the project and would be initiating different innovative steps to prevent students from developing a negative mindset towards life. The project will cover both private and government schools.

"Exam is a challenging part of school life for both children and parents. But there are ways to ease the stress. During the tutor training workshop we impart lessons to teachers on various ways to deal with such stress," she said. Besides handling exam stress, the NIOS has also taken steps to make learning science interesting for students. She said many students perceive science and mathematics as tough subjects and thus suffer from stress.

Pathak said he had come across many brilliant students who wasted their lives, having fallen victim to drug addiction.

In many cases, students took the drugs unintentionally. She said school teachers who spend almost seven to eight hours everyday with students can identify if any student has fallen victim.

"We will train teachers on how to remove any misconception among children about HIV or AIDS," she said.

Saikh Md Sabah Al Ahmed, a teacher at Don Bosco School, said the recent training workshop was a great learning experience and he is looking forward to attending more in the future. "The NIOS project will help us (teachers) take teaching beyond classrooms. We can help students meet the other challenges of life successfully," Ahmed said.