"Are We Not Important Enough?": Students Protest Outside SEBA Office

With the paper leak controversy still prevalent, a number of students have staged a protest in front of the office of the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) in Guwahati’s Bamunimaidan area on Friday afternoon.

Students from different schools have gathered in front of the SEBA office, demanding that the chairman of the department, R.C Jain, come out and answer their raging questions.

“The paper got leaked once, twice, and how many more times? How can we believe that this won’t repeat again? This is straight out harassment,” a protesting student said.

“We just wanted to talk to chairman sir for five minutes but got denied saying that he is having lunch right now and can’t meet. We are also hungry and tired. We just want to ask him a few questions and then we will leave peacefully. Are we not important enough? Our future is at stake here!,” another student said.

Meanwhile, local police have blocked the protesting students from entering the SEBA office.

Notably, there have been several protests across the state by students as well as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) since the paper leak scam got exposed.

Incidents of effigy burning of state education minister Ranoj Pegu were also reported in some places.

Earlier today, SEBA had announced that the examination of all MIL/English (IL) subjects of the ongoing HSLC Class 10 examinations will be held on April 1, 2023.

This comes after the exams had to be rescheduled following orders from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma last night, in light of reports of a possible question paper leak.

The exams were earlier scheduled to be held on March 18. However, during the interrogation, one of the suspects who was arrested for his role in leaking the General Science question paper earlier, confessed to authorities about leaking the Assamese language paper as well.

This prompted Assam CM Sarma to direct SEBA to reschedule the exams. And now, SEBA announced a fresh date for all MIL/ English (IL) subjects to be held on April 1.

Meanwhile, SEBA exam controller Nayan Jyoti Sarma on Friday assured that the HSLC examination results will be declared in May itself.

Speaking to reporters, Sarma said, “The HSLC results will be declared in May itself, however, there might be an inevitable delay of 8-10 days.”

He further termed that paper leak incident as nothing short of unfortunate.

“The paper leak incident is very unfortunate to have taken place. As of now, no official of SEBA have been arrested in connection to case. We are committed to working day and night for the students who are suffering due to the unfortunate incident,” he said.

Also Read: HSLC Results Will Be Declared In May Itself: SEBA Exam Controller