NEW DELHI: The All India Parents Association (AIPA), an organisation working for equal and inclusive education, has come forward to bear the burden of CBSE’s examination fee of government school students.
The association’s president Ashok Agarwal and its member Teena Sharma recently handed over a demand draft of Rs 4.44 lakh to the principal of Sarvodaya Co-ed Senior Secondary School in Moti Bagh, which will ease the burden on its 190 students of class 10th and 12th. The money was collected through crowd funding after AIPA was informed that several parents are finding it difficult to pay up board examination fee, which has increased excessively.
The association’s president Ashok Agarwal said that his organisation would help as many students for which it is approaching individuals for donation. "After seeing parents struggling during the pandemic, we decided pay to the CBSE examination. The Delhi government last year resolved to deposit the fee on student’s behalf however citing financial crisis, this year, it has withdrawn the arrangement. In addition to Moti Bagh school, the AIPA has deposited fee of 45 children of different schools in north and South Delhi," said Agarwal, practicing lawyer at the SC and Delhi HC. He also runs a NGO—Social Jurist, working for the right to education.
Agarwal said that the next target is a government girl school. "We are giving the fees directly to the school. If the students have deposited the examination charges that will be reimbursed to them," he added.
Sharma said last year the CBSE had increased the fees of Class 10 and 12 board examinations from Rs 350 to Rs 2,800 per student depending on class and number of subjects. "The government surreptitiously withdrew the order, which has thoroughly exposed it. It makes tall claims on education reforms but can’t pay fees of the government school students," said Sharma.