The technical committee formed to work on decentralisation of the school examination has suggested forming seven exam boards, one in each province, to conduct regional-level assessment.

The six-member committee led by Dilli Ram Rimal, joint-secretary at the Education Ministry, has recommended conducting grade 10 tests regionally while the final board exam in grade 12 should be conducted by the Central Examination Board (CEB).

Grade 11 examination, which is a national event at present, is to be conducted by the schools themselves.

The regional boards will be headed by joint-secretaries.

The panel was formed in September after Parliament endorsed the eighth amendment to the Education Act-1972, which spells out removing the School Leaving Certificate examination conducted at the end of grade 10.

“The existing Office of the Controller of Examination will be conducting grade 10 exams until the regional boards take over,” says the report. Following the endorsement of the Act, the Education Ministry has already dissolved the Higher Secondary Education Board and replaced it with the CEB.

Parliament on June 4 endorsed the amendment, paving the way for a

major restructuring of school education that involves phasing out the SLC and retiring over 23,000 temporary teachers. It also divides school education into two levels—basic (grades one to eight) and secondary (grades nine to 12).