CBSE states major losses as reason for doubling exam fees

Taking competitive exams away from the board led to loss of major source of revenue

The Centre’s decision to move competitive examinations such as the all-India entrance tests for medical and engineering courses away from the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) to the newly created National Testing Agency has left the school board in a financial hole, forcing it to double examination fees for Class 10 and 12 students.

Parents and students across the country got a shock last week when they were asked to pay ₹1,500 to register for the board examinations, as opposed to the ₹750 paid by last year’s batch. The hike was even steeper for students from the SC/ST communities in Delhi who had been paying just ₹50, with the State government paying another ₹300 per student to the CBSE on their behalf. These students will now have to shell out ₹1,200 to the CBSE when they register, although the State government has assured them it would reimburse the entire amount post payment.

“We have not increased the fees in the last five years, but all our costs have gone up many fold in that time,” said CBSE’s Controller of Examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj. “Earlier, we used to conduct competitive examinations such as NEET and JEE-Main, as well as the NET exam, and save money from that which could then be siphoned to subsidise the school examinations. But that is now impossible. We faced losses of ₹100 crore from last year’s school exams alone.”

The CBSE did not get funds from the government and was thus forced to jack up the fees it collected from students, he said.

“The cost of paper has shot up, and printing of the examination papers. We have not been able to increase payment rates for the teachers who are working overtime for examination activities. They have increased the time devoted, but we have not paid them marketplace rates,” added Mr. Bhardwaj. “Last year, we preponed the declaration of results by a month, but that was only made possible by hiring more people.”

He pointed out that additional security measures also increased costs. “We are now insisting that school principals must personally go and pick up the examination papers in a covered vehicle for safety’s sake, so we have to pay for them to do that. It all adds up to major losses and we can’t afford to subsidise any more,” he said.

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