Assam Higher Secondary exams likely to be held in February, 2021

Guwahati: The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) on October 8 (Thursday) proposed that the Higher Secondary exams should be held in the last week of February of 2021.

Issuing a notice today, the AHSEC stated that the process of online form fill-up for all categories of examinees (such as Regular, Betterment Chance, Reappearance Scheme, Certain Subject, and other NIP candidates) will be from November 1-30, 2020.

The statement further added that the hard copies of the statements, fees payment challans etc, must be submitted to the AHSEC by the institutions by December 15th of this year.

The AHSEC has directed all the institutions to make ensure that all the students have filled up their online application forms for the upcoming examinations.

Recently, the AHSEC reduced the syllabus for students of Class 12 to ease the burden on the students following the coronavirus outbreak. This led to the removal of chapters on the 2002 Gujarat riots, writings on caste-based marginalisation, the Mandal Commission and even one on Jawaharlal Nehru, among other topics.

Portions dropped from the syllabus, which were uploaded on the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) website, were reportedly selected after consultation with teachers and subject experts in the state.

AHSEC Secretary Manoranjan Kakati, said that students have already suffered an academic loss due to the coronavirus pandemic and that the State Higher Education Council was discussing the issue after CBSE slashed the syllabus for Classes 11 and 12.

However, the board's move was criticized by some who claimed it as a move to diminish the Congress' role in India's history. The removal of the chapters on Nehru, especially, drew sharp criticism.

Assam's leader of opposition Dedabrata Saikia in a letter to Sonowal stated that any move to ease the workload of students is welcome in the abnormal situation created by COVID-19. "However, the choice of which chapters to drop is questionable," the senior Congress leader said.

Calling the move questionable, Debabrata Saikia cited the instances of chapters relating to the nation-building policies of Nehru, his foreign policies being excluded.

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