2400% hike in CBSE board exam fees for SC/ST students

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has increased the fees of Class 10 and 12 board examinations for SC and ST students from ₹50 to ₹1,200, while the amount has been doubled for those from the general category, who will now have to pay ₹1,500.

The students appearing for the Class 10 board exams are registered for it when in Class 9, and those appearing for Class 12 are registered when in Class 11. The board notified the changes in the fees last week and has asked the schools who had already begun the registration process and charged students as per the old fee structure, to now collect the difference in amount.

According to the revised norms, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students will have to pay ₹1,200 for five subjects, while earlier they were supposed to pay ₹50 for the same, a hike of 24 times. The general category students who were paying ₹750 earlier, will now pay ₹1,500 for five subjects. “The fees is applicable for both Class 10 and 12 examinations,” a senior CBSE official said.

For appearing for an additional subject in Class 12 board examination, the SC and ST students who were earlier not supposed to pay any extra fee, will now have to pay ₹300. General category students will also have to pay ₹300 for an additional subject, instead of ₹150 earlier. “100 per cent visually impaired students are exempted from paying CBSE examination fees. The student, who fails to deposit the difference in CBSE examination fee before the last date, will not be registered and will not be allowed to appear in the 2019-20 examination,” the official added.

The migration fees which was ₹150 earlier, has also been increased to ₹350. The students enrolled in CBSE schools abroad will have to pay ₹10,000 for five subjects for both Class 10 and 12. Earlier it was ₹5,000. For them, the fees for an additional subject in Class 12 has been fixed at ₹2,000, as against ₹1,000 earlier.