Exam fee exemption sought for flood-affected students of Classes X, XII

The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), led by its state president Vikram Dev Singh, held a meeting with Punjab School Education Board Chairman Dr Amarpal Singh demanding exemption for students of Class X and XII from flood-affected areas from examination fees registration.

The DTF has also sought compensation for damage to books and cancellation of certificate fees for Classes V to XII. The meeting was attended by other secretaries of the Punjab School Education Board, Gurinder Singh Sodhi. The Chairman assured that he would send a proposal for the same to the high-level committee of the Punjab Government regarding the floods and provide necessary relief to students.

The last date for board examination registration is October 24 and deadline with late fee is November 4. Each child will have to pay Rs 1,000 as late fee is the decision is not made till November 4. The fee for Class X is Rs 1,720, for Class XII is Rs 2,170, with additional certificate fee of Rs 250. For Class VIII, in government schools there is no fee.

“The state government should take responsibility for easing the financial burden on students as they and their families face displacement and economic losses. We had raised this issue ever since schools reopened after floods. The PSEB Chairman assured us that if the state government reimburses the amount for the exam registration fee, they will announce exemption. But this cannot happen without the state government’s intervention,” said Vikramdev Singh. The DTF had, through several district units, raised funds to be given to needy students for fee and buying learning material.

State finance secretary of the Democratic Teachers Front, Punjab, and Amritsar unit head Ashwini Awasthi said a large part of Punjab has been hit by the floods between August and September 2025. “There are approximately around one lakh students, who have been displaced or economically affected by floods, especially in the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Fazilka and Ferozepur. Owing to the huge economic loss of people in the flood-affected areas, students here are facing serious problems in paying examination fees and the educational future of the students has also been called into question. Along with this, books of a large number of schools and students living in flood-affected areas have also been damaged due to prolonged flooding.”

The DTF, while submitting a memorandum, demanded from the Punjab School Education Board that the examination fee of all the students of Class X and XII March-2026 (Regular) from the flood-affected areas of Punjab be waived. An assessment report should be collected on the availability of books for all the students belonging to the flood-affected areas and necessary books should be provided to the students immediately after assessing the damage.