Of HSLC/AHM students' right to information!

SEBA notification on blueprint of HSLC/AHM question papers raises a whole lot of questions

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 20: A thin edge of the wedge! That too, in education! Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) now feels that teachers do not have to drive a wedge between SEBA that sets question papers and students who respond to questions set by the former.

SEBA issued a notification on November 18, 2017 asking teachers to let HSLC and AHM students know the very composition of their question papers in 2018. The blueprint of HSLC/AHM question papers, according to the SEBA notification, should have 30 per cent easy questions, 50 per cent average questions and 20 per cent difficult questions so as to let the examiners judge the efficiency level of each and every student, including judgment of efficiency level of intelligent students. Twenty per cent difficult level questions do help examiners judge the efficiency of intelligent students. 

Through the notification, SEBA said that all teachers should inform all students of the blueprint of question papers for HSLC/AHM examitions so that they could get ready accordingly.

However, when contacted, a senior high school teacher said: “There’s nothing new in this notification. This is an old practice being followed by SEBA for HSLC/AHM examitions. However, this sort of information on the blueprint of question papers has all along been confined within teachers. We do instruct students in accordance with the blueprint of question papers. We were not asked to pass on this piece of information to students earlier. However, this notification has spelt it out in no uncertain terms that we should let students know the blueprint of HSLC/AHM question papers.”

The moot point is: did teachers drive a wedge between SEBA and HSLC/AHM students over the years? Was there any instruction from the education board to teachers not to pass this sort of information onto students? However, this notification falls short of clarifying that matter. Now a question that strikes the mind of every right-thinking person is: why have HSLC/AHMstudents been kept in dark from this sort of information over the years? This issue is something which those at the helm of affairs over the years should come clear.

Copies of SEBA’s notification were given to the Director of Secondary Education, all inspectors of schools, SEBA’s Controller of Examition, SEBA OSD and SEBA’s senior SAP and PA to SEBA chairman.

The State of affairs in HSLC/AHM examition is such that examition dates have not been announced as yet. As of now, prelimiry preparations for examition like selection of venues, submission of forms online etc., are going on. HSLC/AHM examition in Assam has been jinxed for the past few years with controversy of this or that sort hitting it years and on. Incidents of question paper leak, cow feeding on answer scripts, question papers not reaching examition halls on time, students not getting their admit cards on time and burning of answer scripts, besides a whole lot of anomalies in the results declared have been marring the matriculation examition in the State over the past few years.