Guwahati

Assam Government starts process for SEBA-AHSEC merger

Following a decision taken by the State Government, the process of merging the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) and the Assam Higher Secondary Education

Sentinel Digital Desk

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Following a decision taken by the State Government, the process of merging the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) and the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is gathering pace.

According to sources, a four-member committee is working out the modalities of the merger of the two premier educational bodies of the State. The process kicked off with a discussion held on April 20 and the first meeting of the committee was held on Thursday, they sources added.

The merger is being proposed to facilitate implementation of the Nation Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020).

An official of the Education Department said that both the SEBA and the AHSEC were constituted on the basis of two separate Acts and they can be merged only via a new legislation. The four-member committee has been tasked with drafting the required legislation for the merger. The members of the Committee are the Managing Director of the Assam State Textbook Production and Publication Corporation Limited, the Secretaries of SEBA, AHSEC and the Secondary Education Department.

The committee will submit the draft pertaining to the merger to the Chief Minister of Assam. Thereafter, the Cabinet will approve the draft and table it as a Bill for passing by the Assam Legislative Assembly.

It may be mentioned that the Assam Secondary Education Act, 1961 (Assam Act, XXV of 1961) was passed to provide for the establishment of a Board of Secondary Education to regulate, supervise and develop secondary education in the State of Assam. The Act came into force with effect from January 29, 1962 with the publication of Government of Assam, Education Department Notification No. 159/61/37 dated 29/1/1962. Thus the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (popularly known as SEBA) came into existence on March 14, 1962.

On the other hand the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is a state education regulatory board established by the Assam Government on June 1, 1984 via the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council Act, 1984 to regulate, supervise and develop the system of higher secondary education (+2 stages) in Assam.

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