The Central Board for Secondary Examination (CBSE) said on Tuesday that it has decided to restore the practice of charging only ₹50 from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students of Delhi government schools.
The CBSE had recently hiked the fee for all candidates for Class X and XII board examinations. The fees for SC and ST students in Delhi, who were paying only ₹50 while the Delhi government was giving the rest of the amount as a subsidy, was raised to ₹1,200.
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CBSE secretary Anurag Tripathi said that for the remaining amount of hiked fee — ₹1,150 — the Board will take up reimbursement possibilities with the Delhi government after finalisation of the number of candidates.
“The Delhi government has agreed in principle to pay the remainder of hiked amount for all SC/ST students studying in its or aided schools,” Mr. Tripathi said.
Last week, the fees for Class X and XII general category students was doubled from ₹750 to ₹1,500 for five subjects.
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“CBSE’s expenditure on Class X and XII exams amounted to approximately ₹500 crore last year. Earnings from student exam fees was less than ₹250 crore. This resulted in a deficit of more than ₹200 crore last year,” Mr. Tripathi said.
“In previous years, the deficit was covered by the profits gained from conducting professional entrance exams, which have now moved to the National Testing Agency. By doubling the student exam fees, we will come back to a no profit, no loss situation,” he added.
Mr. Tripathi said measures to make the examination leak-proof and to improve the speed and quality of the evaluation, as well as higher paper, printing, and transport rates have increased costs.
Call for protests
Several students’ outfits have called for protests outside the CBSE head office on Wednesday. Condemning the examination fee hike, the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation called for a nationwide protest.