Exam fee for Classes V, VIII students opposed

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 3

The Punjab School Education Board’s (PSEB) decision to charge registration and examination fee from the Class V and VIII students hasn’t gone down well with the parents and teachers of students of the aided schools.

Terming it a violation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Aided Schools’ Employees’ Union today demanded that if relaxation was given to government school students, then the children studying in privately managed government-aided schools should also be exempted from paying any fee.

As the PSEB will hold board exams this year for Class V and VIII students, a letter was dispatched recently to all aided schools’’ heads, mentioning the fee to be paid by the students.

While the board has charged Rs 200 as the registration fee from the students of both the grades, Rs 550 has been set as examination fee for the Class V students and Rs 850 for the Class VIII students.

There are approximately 2,500 Class V students and 3,000 Class VIII students, studying in 56 aided schools of the district, hence the union members alleged that the government was trying to generate revenue from the poor students.

An official of the Education Department said 11,915 students were enrolled in Class V in the aided schools and 19,157 in Class VIII.

Manish Aggarwal, media secretary of the Aided Schools’ Employees’’ Union, said parents of the students had objected to the fee. “Like government schools, students in the aided schools also belong to the underprivileged section, hence on similar grounds no fee should be imposed on them. Apart from this, the students were admitted under the RTE Act, therefore no academic fee is charged from them. Then why impose the board examination fee,” asked Aggarwal.

The state Education Secretary couldn’t be contacted even after several attempts.