Intermediate and Secondary Education fee increase in Punjab Boards

Punjab Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education fee increase

Rs 450 fee for passing FA, FSc exams?
Lahore, Sep 10: After matriculation, all eight Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs) of the province have now imposed Rs 450 per student as certificate fee on successful candidates of intermediate examinations.

The new fee will be received from both private and regular candidates. In August this year, on directions of the Punjab government and following a decision of the Punjab Boards Committee of Chairmen (PBCC), BISEs in the province had imposed Rs 450 as certificate fee for successful candidates of the secondary school (matriculation) examination.

The new fee has upset students as well as their parents who have termed it a move to further complicate financial matters in the wake of ever-increasing inflation and any check from the government.

The revenue to be generated by the BISEs can be estimated by the fact that a total of 73,501 candidates passed the intermediate examination from the BISE Lahore alone this year which means the board will generate over Rs 33 million from the new fee only. As per the notification, private candidates will deposit Rs 450 in the bank and paste the original challan form afterwards on the photocopy of the intermediate result card. It will be submitted to the board office otherwise the certificate would not be issued. Similarly, students of government, autonomous and private institutions will be charged by respective institutions which would subsequently submit it to respective boards.

Earlier, no such fee was received from private as well as regular candidates and certificates were issued free of cost to all students.

According to the notification, a copy of which is available with The News, the decision is being implemented from the intermediate annual examination 2010, the result of which was announced simultaneously by the eight boards on September 4, 2010.

A number of students and their parents expressed concern over the recent move saying Rs 450 was a substantial amount but it was strange the government never thought how many people would be affected by the decision.

A private student, Falak, who recently passed the intermediate exam, said he had received a photocopy of the result card from the BISE Lahore on Thursday with a notification according to which he was directed to deposit Rs 450 to get the certificate. “I was shocked as the amount is substantial”, he added. The move is being seen as an effort to avert financial constraints being faced by the boards of the province following Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif waived registration and examination fee for government school students appearing in the matriculation exam last year.

When contacted, Ahad Khan Cheema, Secretary Higher Education Department Punjab, the controlling authority of all boards of the province, said the boards were facing financial constraints following a 50 per cent increase in remuneration of exam staff, a 50 percent hike in salaries of employees by the federal government besides waiver of registration, examination fee to government schools students for matriculation exams. He said the BISEs were finding it difficult to hold exams because of financial constraints. The news