HS exams scrapped after multiple paper leaks; affiliation of 15 private schools revoked

Guwahati, Mar 23:  Two days after the Mathematics paper leak, the Economics question paper of the HS first-year exam was allegedly leaked an hour before the exam on Saturday, which prompted the embarrassed Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB) to cancel the examination for the remaining subjects.

ASSEB Division II, formerly Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC), confirmed receiving reports of the alleged leak around 8 am on Saturday, merely an hour before the scheduled start of the examination. According to an official of ASSEB, since most students had already reached their examination centres or were en route, the exam was conducted as per the schedule.

The inspector of schools and principal of lead colleges have been asked to inquire into the matter and give an opinion on the future course of action.

In an order, the ASSEB, citing reports from inspectors of schools, noted that some of the institutions have opened the sealed packets of mathematics question papers a day before the examination.

"It is presumed that leakages of question papers in the rest of the examination cannot be ruled out, as all the question papers of the remaining subjects are in the custody of each institution where the examination is being held.

"Therefore, it is decided that the examination of the remaining subjects of the HS First Year Examination 2025, as scheduled earlier from March 24 to 29, are hereby cancelled. The further course of action will be intimated after the Board meeting on March 24," the order stated.

Examinations of subjects like computer science, anthropology, sociology, biology, education, MIL, logic and philosophy, geography and geology were scheduled between March 24 and 29.

Fifteen private institutions in 10 districts – Barpeta, Bajali, Cachar, Dhemaji, Hailakandi, Kamrup Metro, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nagaon and Nalbari – had reportedly broken the seal of the packets before the scheduled date and time of examination, which is in violation of the standard procedure, according to the Board's report.

The respective inspectors of schools have been asked to lodge FIRS against the institutions, while the board has suspended their affiliations. The institutions have been barred from taking admission of students in Class XI for the academic session 2025-26. The current first-year students will continue their study in the institutions.

The mathematics examination for the ongoing higher secondary first-year exams, which was originally scheduled for March 21, had been postponed following the question paper leak.

By

Staff Reporter