No exam fee hike for students of govt-run CBSE schools: Manish Sisodia

New Delhi: Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has announced that students of the Delhi government and aided schools will not have to pay any fees for Class 10 and 12 CBSE examinations and the cost will be born by the city dispensation.

The decision was taken by the Delhi government following an announcement of a fee hike by the Central Board of Secondary Education. Mr Sisodia also said the government is in discussion with CBSE to roll back the fee hike.

The board had announced on Monday that the burden of the fee hike will not be passed on to SC/ST students in city government and aided schools as Delhi government will pay the board.

Mr Sisodia said that the government was in the process of discussing with CBSE to roll back the fee hike. “Irrespective of what happens, no child will have to bear the burden of registration fees as the government will bear that,” he added.

The CBSE, last week, notified an increase in the examination fees for Classes 10 and 12, registration fees for Classes 9 and 11 and migration fees.

The fees for general category students for Classes 10 and 12 were doubled from '750 to '1,500 for five subjects. The Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, who were paying '375 earlier, will now have to pay '1,200 for five subjects.

Under a special arrangement in the national capital, these students were only paying '50, while the Delhi government was paying the rest of the amount as subsidy.

According to the revised norms, the SC/ST students were required to pay the entire amount to the CBSE. The Board, however, on Monday restored the facility of SC/ST students paying '50 after the city government agreed to pay the remaining amount.