CBSE Class 10 & 12 exam fee hike will hit parents: Minister

Odisha's School and Mass Education minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Monday said the hike in class 10 and 12 board examination fees by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will "hit" the parents.

The CBSE has increased the fees of Class 10 and 12 board examinations by up to Rs 1,150.

"It is really a difficult situation for parents to meet the CBSE fee hike. The CBSE authorities should not have raised the examination fees at one go," Dash told reporters after the All India Parents Association's Odisha chapter member sought Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's intervention.

The minister said the state government will examine the matter.

However, CBSE should not have raised the fee structure in this manner, he said.

Earlier, the parents' association had strongly condemned the CBSE announcement to increase the fees of Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations.

The fees for general category students for both Class 10 and 12 have been doubled from Rs 750 to Rs 1,500 for five subjects.

The SC and ST students, who were paying Rs 350 earlier, will now be supposed to pay Rs 1,200 for five subjects. In a special arrangement only for Delhi, the SC/ST students were only paying Rs 50, while the balance was paid by the Delhi government.

"Apart from examination fee, the CBSE has also imposed a late fee of Rs 2,000 per candidate. It is illegal to impose late fee for poor and needy students," said parents' association or the Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha in a statement.

For appearing in an additional subject in Class 10-12, both SC and ST and general category students will now have to pay Rs 300. Earlier, it was not charged for SC & ST students. "We strongly oppose the increase examination fee of CBSE," the association said.