Guwahati: The Assam State School Examination Board has cancelled all Class 11 exams scheduled from March 24 to 29, covering 36 subjects, due to multiple paper leaks, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu announced.
The leak of the mathematics paper on March 21 had already led to its cancellation and a police complaint. Authorities will decide on further action in the board meeting on March 24, 2025.
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu announced on X, “Due to question paper leaks and breaches of protocol, the remaining HS First Year exams scheduled from March 24-29 are cancelled.”
The Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB) has suspended the affiliation of 15 private schools in 10 districts for unsealing Class 11 Mathematics question papers before the scheduled time, the minister announced in the official notice.
“All Inspector of Schools and Principals of Lead Colleges had received back the sealed packets of question papers of Mathematics, based on instruction issued by the Board and from their reports it is seen that some of the institutions have opened the sealed packets of question paper on 20/03/2025, whereas the examination was scheduled to be held in the second session of 21/03/2025,’’ the official notice added.
The minister stated that the mathematics paper leak occurred after 18 schools, including three government institutions, broke the security seal a day before the exam. Police complaints will be filed, and these schools are barred from enrolling Class 11 students for the 2025-26 academic year, Pegu said.
Meanwhile, last week, the Class 9 English annual exam in Assam’s Barpeta district was also cancelled after its question paper leaked on social media.
According to an ASSEB order issued by Controller of Examinations (in-charge) Ranjan Kumar Das, all school inspectors and principals of lead colleges have returned the sealed Mathematics question paper packets after the cancellation.
An FIR has been lodged at the CID Headquarters in Guwahati, and 18 more cases will be filed at respective police stations against the involved educational institutions.
“Out of the 18 centres, we believe that not all have leaked the papers. Probably only one or two centres leaked the papers, which then went viral on social media. The culprits will be found after a detailed police probe,” Ranjan Kumar Das said, in a news report.