President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday authenticated the amended Education Act-1972 that has formally scrapped School Leaving Certificate (SLC) system and +2 and its governing bodies.

While the amended Act envisions National Examination Board (NEB), the Ministry of Education has yet to initiate its formation, raising question over who would take up the task of the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) and the Office of the Controller of Examinations (OCE). The HSEB issues more than 500 certificates to students each day while handling examination processes of grade 11 and 12 students.

On June 4, Parliament had endorsed the eighth amendment of the Education Act-1972 that brought an end to the SLC system along with its regulatory body, the OCE. In a major restructuring, the education system is now divided into two levels—basic (Grade I to VIII) and secondary (Grade IX to XII). The signature in academic credentials will be the biggest legal complication, according to experts. “It is not clear who would sign the documents,” said Mana Prasad Wagle, education expert. As the formation of the NEB would begin only after the Cabinet appoints the chairperson, Wagle explains, the vice-chairperson, who will be the education secretary, might have moral dilemmas to sign the document.

“The ministry could have simplified the procedure by allowing the existing structure to function until the formation of another,” said Wagle. Also, the appointment of the NEB chairperson will be done by the Cabinet on the recommendation of a three-member committee led by the chairperson of Public Service Commission.    

Officials at the ministry, however, ruled out suggestions that there will be such complications, saying that the examinations will be handled by the present structure of HSEB while curriculum and affiliation issues will be looked after by the Curriculum Development Centre and the Department of Education respectively.

HSEB Vice-chairman Chaitanya Sharma said the effect of the new provision would last for three days, after which the new structure comes into force. “We won’t issue certificates overnight. Hence, the complication will be sorted out by the time we publish results,” said Sharma.