The UP Secondary Education Board has increased the examination fees for high school and intermediate board examinations in 2020. The fee for high school examinations has been raised six-fold from Rs. 80 to Rs. 500, whereas for intermediate examinations it has gone up from Rs. 90 to Rs. 600.
All the private students who will be appearing in UP Board high school examinations will now pay Rs. 700 instead of Rs. 200, and those appearing in intermediate examinations will be charged Rs. 800 instead of Rs. 220.
Candidates must note that they will have to submit the fees to their school principal by August 15. However, in April, the UP Board had increased the fee for re-evaluation of examinations by five times.
According to the Board officials, “The reason behind the steep hike was to bring it at par with CBSE and CISCE to some extent.” UP Board Secretary Neena Srivastava said, "We are still not charging as much fee as CBSE or CISCE since majority of our students come from rural background."
Talking about CBSE, high school and intermediate students are required to pay Rs. 750 for five subjects. Also, a fee of Rs. 100 is charged if they opt for an additional subject. The examination fee for ICSE and ISC students is Rs. 1,500.
The state president of Secondary Self-finance Teachers' Association, Umesh Dwiwedi stated, "At a time when the government talks about providing free food and uniforms to all, the fee hike is too steep for students."
