Orissa HC gives CBSE 4 weeks to decide on Class X, XII fee hike.

Source – newindianexpress.com

CUTTACK:  The Orissa High Court on Monday asked the Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) to take a decision within four weeks on Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangh’s representation seeking withdrawal of hike in examination fee for Class X and XII examinations conducted by it.

The division bench of Chief Justice KS Jhaveri and Justice KR Mohapatra issued the direction on a PIL filed by the Mahasangh chairman Basudev Bhatta. Bhatta approached High Court after his representation to the CBSE Chairman on August 12, yielded no result. In his petition, Bhatta sought quashing of the changes brought by CBSE, New Delhi to the examination fee structure. 

According to the petition, examination fee for general students was increased from Rs 750 to Rs 1,500 and for the SC and ST students from Rs 50 to Rs 1,200. Migration certificate fee was fixed at Rs 350. The petition contended that the hike in examination fee structure warrants HC’s intervention ‘in the larger interest of the students’ as it is ‘illegal and arbitrary’.

The petition was filed after representations to the Union Minister for Human Resources Development and the Chairman of CBSE did not yield any result despite requests by Governor and Chief Minister to reconsider their decision.

“The hike in examination fee structure would directly affect basic education of needy students who would be deprived of their education due to lack of adequate financial resources. The State, who is obligated to provide free and compulsory education to the students in the age group of 6 to 14 has ex facie failed to discharge its statutory duties,” the petition alleged. Around 20,299 schools in India are affiliated to CBSE.