Assam government to merge class 10, 12 boards into a new entity

Guwahati: In a bid to reform education boards in Assam, the state government on Wednesday proposed to merge the state boards for classes 10 and 12 into a single entity to manage secondary education.

The state government had introduced the Assam State School Education Board Bill, 2024 in the Assembly to create a new body to administer the education system up to class 12 in the state.

The Bill will allow the merger of the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA) and the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) into a single entity namely the Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB).

The preamble of the law states that the Bill has been enacted to “regulate, supervise and develop secondary education in the State of Assam by merging the existing Board of Secondary Education, Assam and the Assam Council of Higher Secondary Education”.

ASSEB will be headed by a Chairman nominated by the Government. The administration of each Division under the Chairman shall be entrusted to an individual Vice-Chancellor to be nominated by the Government.

There will be a total of 21 members in the new board. Their tenure will be three years which can be renewed for an equal period.

In detailing the objects and reasons of the bill, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said it aims to introduce the Assam State School Education Board Bill, 2024 to develop, regulate and supervise standards and quality in school education in the state. Assam.

The decision to merge the two institutions was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in November last year.

It is to be noted that Class 10 board exams are conducted by SEBA while Class 12 exams are looked after by AHSEC.

Meanwhile, the step has been taken in the wake of the leak of at least two question papers of the Class 10 board examinations by SEBA in 2023. The General Science and Assamese papers were leaked in March last year.