DTF holds protest against fee hike outside PSEB office
Mohali, October 3
The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) staged a protest outside the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) office in Mohali for levying fees for obtaining hard copies of board examination certificates, charging practical examination fees, and levying heavy fines on the parents of the students at the insistence of the state government.
Teachers from all over the state staged a protest in front of the head office of the Education Board against the non-payment of dues of crores of rupees to the board. Gurtej Singh, Deputy Secretary, PSEB, met the protesting teachers and assured them of a high-level hearing on October 11.
DTF state president Vikram Dev Singh and general secretary Mukesh Kumar said that under the Rights to Education Act-2009, all students up to class VIII are mandated to receive free education, and under the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act-2016, disabled students are mandated to receive free education up to the age of 18 years. But the school education board is levying a fee of Rs 200 per student for hard copies of Class V, VIII, and X certificates and Rs 250 for Class XII, which is becoming a burden for poor families.
The protesting teachers demanded a withdrawal of these hikes and fines. They stated that the amount of the fine should not exceed the fee in any case. Since practical exams for board classes are conducted by teachers at the school level, the practical fee charged to students is completely irrational and should be stopped.
