Assam government to merge Class 10, 12 boards into one new body

NEW DELHI: The Assam government on Wednesday proposed to merge the state boards for Class 10 and 12 to make one single entity in order to manage secondary education. The state government introduced Assam State School Education Board Bill, 2024 in the Assembly for creating a new body to control the education system till Class 12 in the state. According to the bill, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA) and the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) will be merged to create a new body -- Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB).

The bill has been brought to "regulate, supervise and develop Secondary Education in the state of Assam by merging the existing Board of Secondary Education, Assam and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council", the preamble of the legislation stated. The ASSEB will be headed by a chairman, to be nominated by the government. Under him, individual vice chairman will look after each division and he or she will be nominated by the government.

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The new board will have a total of 21 members, who will have a three-year term and it can be renewed for an equal period. "The objective is to introduce the Assam State School Education Board Bill, 2024 to develop, regulate and supervise the standards and quality in school education in the state of Assam," Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said in the Statement of Object and Reasons of the Bill. Earlier in November last year, the merger decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The SEBA conducts the Class 10 board examination, while the Class 12 examinations are looked after by the AHSEC. The move comes after leaking of at least two question papers in the Class 10 board examinations by SEBA in 2023. In March last year, general science and Assamese papers were leaked. This forced the SEBA and government to reschedule the examinations of general science, all subjects of Modern Indian Languages (MIL), including Assamese, and English (IL).