The Assam government on Thursday said it has decided to merge the state boards for Class 10 and 12 to make one single entity.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
According to a cabinet communique shared by Sarma on X, 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 SEBA conducts the Class 10 board examinations, while the Class 12 tests are looked after by the AHSEC. The cabinet decided to merge the two age-old bodies to "develop, regulate and supervise the standards and quality of school education", the communique said.
The decision comes after around eight months of leaking of at least two question papers in the Class 10 board examinations. In March this year, question papers from General Science and Assamese were leaked, while people also claimed that questions for a few other subjects were also leaked.
This incident forced the SEBA to reschedule the examinations of General Science, all subjects of Modern Indian Languages (MIL), including Assamese and English.
The cabinet also approved the amendment to several rules of recruitment of school teachers at different levels in order to maintain the student-teacher ratio and ensure optimum utilization of manpower.
Besides, the council of ministers gave ex-post facto approval for the creation of Khasi-Jaintia Development Council.
To promote electric vehicles, the government decided to provide a two percentage point reduction on existing duties on Motor Vehicle Tax (non-transport) for purchases till March 31, 2025.
The cabinet also gave its nod to hold the Budget Session for 2024-25 of the Assam Assembly from February 5 next year.
(With inputs from PTI)
