AHSEC Decides to Eliminate ‘Bihu’ from HS Syllabus

The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) has decided to remove Bihu from the Higher Secondary class 11 and 12 curriculum.

The decision taken by the council has surprised students who are already pursuing Bihu as a subject at higher secondary level.

The announcement comes as a shocker from the side of the council as it comes at a time when cultural studies were given importance in the New Education Policy (NEP) set up by the Centre.

Eliminating the subject from the curriculum has raised questions in people's mind.

The AHSEC Class 12 exam is scheduled to begin with English on March 15, and will be concluded on April 12.

It may be mentioned that, the AHSEC had introduced Bihu as an elective subject in the Higher Secondary course from the 2020-2021 academic session. Students who choose Bihu as their elective subject had to attempt the question paper of 100 marks, which comprised theory as well as practical segments.

According to a statement issued by the AHSEC, the introduction of Bihu as a subject in the Higher Secondary level would benefit the students in taking Performing Arts as a subject at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Earlier the Assam Government had announced that In order to discourage forcible donations from the business persons, a special grant of Rs 1.5 lakh would be provided to all Rongali Bihu Celebration Committees in the state who have been holding Bihu functions within first 7 days of the month of Bohag for at least past 10 years. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also stated that donation collection in Assam will be considered a criminal offence from now onwards.

After this decision made by the state government, reactions had come from different sections of the society. People questioned the government for trying to bring restrictions in celebrations of Bihu.