SILCHAR, Feb 22 - At a time there has been a spurt among the students to migrate on to the CBSE pattern of education in the State, the Board of Secondary Education of Assam (SEBA) has come forward with its scheme to reach out to the students through the Regional Offices across the State with a view to facilitate the examination proceedings.
As a part of the decision taken by the Board, the Regional Office SEBA was ceremoniously inaugurated on the Government Boys� HS School premises here on Sunday. Minister of Sports and Transport Ajit Singh inaugurated the office in the presence of Silchar MP Susmita Dev, Minister of Jails and Border Area Development Girindra Malik, Parliamentary Secretary Dr Rumi Nath, former MP from Silchar Kabindra Purkayastha and SEBA secretary Kamal Jyoti Gogoi along with Inspector of schools of three districts.
The inaugural ceremony was presided over by Deputy Commissioner S Viswanathan. The regional office will be headed by Sarbeshwar Sarma, assistant secretary of SEBA with two other members of the board.
Kamal Jyoti Gogoi said that from this academic year, the rank holders tally will be top 20 instead of the present tally of top 10 in the HSLC examinations. This branch office at Silchar is a part of the second phase of the initiative aimed to facilitate the students from the three districts of Barak Valley who have thus far been taking pain to reach to the SEBA office in Guwahati because of the lack of better communication facilities.
The forms for HSLC exams will be received and distributed from this office. Also, registration forms for Class IX examinations will be distributed as well. Students can also apply for duplicate certificate, mark sheets from this centre, Sarbeshwar Sarma said.
Thanking Education Minister Sarat Barkotoky for this initiative, Ajit Singh said that this is indeed a historic occasion and has come after a lot of efforts from everyone. Referring to the recent arrest of 11 teachers who were found to help the examinees with foul means, Singh urged the teaching fraternity to maintain their integrity for the greater interest of the society. He said that an Academic Council for Barak Valley is in the scheme of things.
In her speech, Susmita Dev urged the SEBA secretary to issue a warning of stern action to those middlemen who fool the people and draw huge sum of money promising them to facilitate their paper works. She also asked the secretary to make arrangements for filling of the large number of vacant posts in the valley.
She also said that Barak Valley needs a mini secretariat which will solve many issues faced by the people here. Former MP Kabindra Purkayastha and Parliamentary Secretary and Dr Rumi Nath also spoke on the occasion.
Former principal of the school, Dipankar Chanda, read out the proposal for opening of a regional office of the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) on the school premises.
Meanwhile, amid the efforts to put a check on the involvement of the agents in the affairs of HSLC, when the SEBA secretary was asked about the role of a person Samiran Choudhury allegedly found to be in close proximity with him, Kamal Jyoti Gogoi denied to have any terms with the person.
Interestingly, the man in question had approached the local MP with a request to donate Rs 10,000 for the arrangements of refreshment packets for the official function.
