GUWAHATI, Aug 2 - The Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA)�s recent notification on sorting out six chapters on just six communities of Assam for the Class 9 and 10 examinations has drawn sharp reactions from the Chutia community that has alleged that the Board has undermined the role of the ethnic group through this step.
Members of the All Assam Chutia Students� Union on Friday burned copies of the SEBA notification about the exam portion for �Baichitramoy Asom� in different parts of Assam.
Baichitramoy Asom is the latest initiative of SEBA to make students learn about different communities, ethnic groups and great personalities of Assam. Out of 22 chapters for both the classes, the Board has chosen three chapters for each class for the final and pre-test examinations of class 9 and 10, respectively.
Sources from the SEBA argued that out of the vast syllabus, these chapters have been chosen for the ease of students and the Board might shuffle the chapters next year. However, the student organisation threatened to stage protests in front of the SEBA office against this �biased� step.
As part of the Assamese syllabus for classes 9 and 10, 22 chapters have been included under Baichitramoy Asom, giving a glimpse of contributions of different ethnic groups in creating the greater Assamese society.
The Board, through a notification on July 26, 2019 informed the students that questions from three chapters would be included for the each class for the annual examination of class 9 and pre-test of class 10.
The communities included in the exam portion for this academic year for class 9 are Ahoms, Koch Rajbongshis and Cachar�s communities. The communities for class 10 include the Bodos, Morans and Sonowal Kacharis. The notice further mentioned that the question papers should cover the notified chapters only.
�The Chutias have a glorious history and immense contribution towards building the greater Assamese society. If the exam syllabus does not include questions from the chapter about the Chutia community, the students would never study those chapters and never learn about the community,� said Mahen Bora, general secretary of the student body.
He said that if some communities are left out despite being a part of Baichitramoy Asom, the very purpose of this initiative would be defeated.
Leaders of the student body met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over the issue. �If immediate steps are not taken to address this issue, we would stage protests in front of the SEBA office,� Bora said.
When contacted, SEBA Controller of Examination Nayanjyoti Sarma said that the students were asked to study all the chapters, and the portion for the exams was fixed later through a notification. �SEBA might also shuffle the chapters for the next academic sessions. The entire initiative has been designed to make the students learn about our communities and thus, the allegation of bias is baseless,� he said.
