GUWAHATI: The leak of general science question paper of the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination, 2023, conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), left the Himanta Biswa Sarma government embarrassed.
The exam was cancelled on Sunday midnight, barely nine hours before it was to have been commenced at 9 am of Monday. Many students across the state went to their examination centres, unaware of the cancellation of the exam.
A beleaguered Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told journalists SEBA was forced to cancel the exam on Sunday midnight after getting “clues” about the paper’s leak.
He said the question papers were kept at the police stations and they were to have been dispatched to the exam centres on Monday morning. He said the last time a paper of the HSLC examination got leaked was in 2006.
The minister said he spoke to Director General of Police GP Singh after SEBA had lodged a case with the police. He promised that the guilty would be punished after a proper investigation. He also said that the next date of the general science exam would be notified by SEBA in due course.
There are demands that he resign but he said, “The chief minister will decide.”
Earlier, a notification, signed by SEBA Controller of Examinations NJ Sarmah, said, “…a news is telecast in a section of media today evening that a hand written model question paper of HSLC examination of General Science (C3) subject, which is to be held on 13 March, 2023 (Monday), is available in the hands of some candidate and it is also spread in the social media.”
“We have a belief that such news may create a confusion in the minds of the candidates and keeping in view of this, the examination of General Science (C3) subject is hereby cancelled,” the notification further said.
It added that SEBA initiated an inquiry and would take all necessary actions in this respect.