Furore over extra exam fees in Malda school

MALDA, Feb. 17: Students appearing for the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations this year have refused to deposit an extra Rs 25 and Rs 50 as ‘centre fee’ sought by the Babupur High School authorities in Gazol causing tension on the school premises.

Students backed by the CPI-ML (Liberation) affiliated All India Students’ Association today protested against the decision and met the headmaster Mr Samsuddin Ahmed seeking clarification for the extra charges sought. When the headmaster reportedly explained that he would have to deposit the ‘centre fee’ to the centre committee in Gazol to meet expenses for arranging the examinations including the ‘cost of police deployment’, the AISA backed class XI students decided to boycott the extra centre fees of Rs 50.

“The headmaster was demanding centre fee from the students verbally and without receipt. Students urged him to issue a notice regarding the centre fee which the headmaster did today,” said CPI-ML leader Mr Naba Biswas. “Students denied depositing the extra fees because they had already deposited Rs 200 as exam fees to the school at the time of form filling,” said AISA student leader Mr Manabendra Roy.

Mr Samsuddin Ahmed, the headmaster of the Babupur High School, said over phone: “The centre committee in Gazole has asked me to collect centre fees from the students to meet up expenses for organising exams. So we decided to collect Rs 25 from Madhyamik students, Rs 50 from the HS students and Rs 10 from class XI students. Today some Madhyamik students deposited the fee but the HS students did not deposit the fixed amount. They have been asked to deposit the amount before obtaining the admit cards”.

The Malda DI Mr Chinmay Sarkar, however, said: “The Board had directed to collect Rs 20 only from a student as centre charge.” Speaking on the issue, the in-charge of examinations in Malda district Mr Partha Jha said: “With permission from the Centre Committee the headmaster can collect Rs 30 only from each student as centre fee. He can not claim Rs 50.” The matter has reached the police. The Malda, ASP, Mr Kalyan Mukhopadhayay today asked the OC Gazol to contact the headmaster, inquire about the matter and file a general diary against him if the headmaster has told the students to pay the ‘centre fee’ to meet the expenses for police deployment. n SNS