Staff Reporter
Guwahati: With only ten days left for the commencement of this year's High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) Examination and Higher Secondary (HS) Final Examination, both considered crucial milestones in the academic lives of students in Assam, preparations for organizing the exams are almost complete. A delegation of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) met the authorities of the Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB) on Friday and urged the board to take all necessary measures so that candidates can appear for the examinations without any pressure or inconvenience.
ASSEB has already released the schedule for both exams, according to it, the HSLC Examination 2026 will be held from February 10 to February 27, while the Higher Secondary Final Examination (Arts, Commerce and Science streams) will be conducted from February 11 to March 16.
To ensure the smooth and stress-free conduct of the examinations, a delegation of the AASU met the authorities of the ASSEB on Friday at its office.
It may be noted that this year both examinations will not be held in private educational institutions, and teachers from private institutions will not be assigned invigilation duties. The state government has clarified that only government schools will host the exams, and they will entrust examination responsibilities to government teachers.
Providing details of the exams, ASSEB Chairman Ramesh Chandra Jain stated that the HSLC Examination will be conducted across 1,046 centres, with a total of 4,38,565 candidates appearing. The Higher Secondary Final Examination will be held in 821 centres, with 3,30,744 candidates appearing. Among the HS examinees, 2,47,865 students are from the Arts stream, 61,568 from Science, 19,806 from Commerce and 1,505 from the vocational stream.
Jain informed that preparations for the examinations are in the final stages. "Almost all arrangements have been completed. The process of dispatching question papers will begin shortly and will be completed by February 6," he said.
He also highlighted a significant change in the HSLC examination pattern this year. Previously, a single question paper contained questions in five languages. However, this year, separate question papers have been prepared for each language - Assamese, English, Bengali, Bodo and Hindi. Candidates will receive the question paper in the language they have opted for. No major changes have been introduced for the Higher Secondary Final Examination, he added.
With only a few days remaining, the Board is reportedly working on a war-footing manner to ensure seamless arrangements. The AASU delegation, led by assistant general secretary Dipak Sharma, education secretary Tutumoni Kalita, and other leaders, along with representatives from Kamrup Metro and Guwahati units, reviewed various aspects of the examination process with the board chairman.
Speaking after the meeting, AASU Education Secretary Tutumoni Kalita emphasized the need for flawless and transparent conduct during the examinations. He urged the authorities to ensure that no discrepancies arise from the conduct of the exams to the declaration of results. The student body also appealed to the Board to uphold its credibility and trust among students and guardians by conducting the examinations smoothly and declaring results in a timely manner.
Kalita extended his best wishes to all candidates appearing in the HSLC and Higher Secondary Final Examinations this year.
Also read: Assam: HSLC exam centre approved at Numaligarh HS School