Why Can’t Seba Conduct The Exam Efficently: LoP

GUWAHATI: The reported leak of the Class X general science board examination question paper rocked the state assembly on Monday, forcing the speaker to adjourn the House for 10 minutes.
The House witnessed noisy scenes after speaker Biswajit Daimary disallowed an adjournment motion raised by the leader of opposition, Debabrata Saikia, to discuss the issue. “There were allegations on March 5 also that the English paper of Class X exam was leaked.
But the education minister blamed the media instead for the news. If precautions were taken then, another paper leak wouldn’t have happened today,” Saikia said. “CBSE, ICSE boards conduct their Class X examinations throughout the country. Why can’t Seba conduct the exam efficiently in just one state? Is there any conspiracy to shut Assamese-medium schools by discrediting the SEBA?” Saikia asked.
Saikia also questioned why a retired officer is heading SEBA despite the presence of many efficient educationists in the state. Reacting to the LoP’s statements, education minister Ranoj Pegu said the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) cancelled the examination Sunday midnight and filed a police case apart from initiating a probe on it’s own.
“Let the probe be completed first. A discussion before the probe will not be appropriate,” he added. This led to more noisy scenes with CPM MLA Manoranjan Talukdar and Independent member Akhil Gogoi questioning the speaker why the minister was allowed to answer before the notice was accepted.
Gogoi also went to the extent of demanding the education minister’s resignation. The speaker then sought to pacify the opposition and said he is not denying the importance of the topic. He urged them to discuss it during zero hour in the coming days. Reacting to this, Saikia said, “It is better to discuss the subject today itself. It is a burning topic.”
Congress, CPM and Independent lawmakers then trooped to the well of the House and demanded that the issue be discussed under adjournment motion. They shouted slogans of ‘BJP government murdabad’, which was strongly opposed by the speaker and the treasury bench.
A heated exchange between the two sides followed and Daimary adjourned the House for 10 minutes. Pegu later told reporters outside the House that a detailed probe will reveal the source of the leak in the question paper and the culprits behind it. “There is no question of the involvement of teachers. The papers are kept at police stations and taken to examination centers only on the morning of the test day,” he added.