Kolkata, June 10 -- The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has released a revised enrolment fee structure for Class XII students under the newly-introduced semester system, effective from the 2025-2026 academic session.

According to the latest notification, students will now be required to pay enrolment charges twice a year, once for each of the two semesters (Semester III and Semester IV), unlike the earlier annual system in which fees were collected only once.

For each semester, a total enrolment charge of Rs 215 per student will be collected. This includes Rs 155 as enrolment fee, Rs 30 as form processing fee and Rs 30 as convenience fee. In addition, schools have been instructed to collect Rs 25 as centre fees, raising the total amount to Rs 240 per student.

Out of the total, Rs 190 will be deposited with the Council, while the remaining Rs 50, comprising Rs 25 as centre fee and Rs 25 as centre grant, will be retained by the schools and handed over to centre secretaries before the commencement of each semester's examinations. A fine of Rs 150 will be imposed on students in cases of late enrolment.

Under the previous annual system, the total fee for lab-based subjects, including centre fees was Rs 220, of which Rs 189 was submitted to the Council. Schools retained Rs 30 as centre grant and fee and Rs 1 as clerical charges.

However, under the semester model, students will now pay Rs 480 annually.

Chandan Garai, secretary of the All Post Graduate Teachers' Welfare Association, criticised the move, stating that the increased frequency of payment would burden students. "The Council should consider reducing the fees per semester," he said.

Council officials, however, justified the revision, arguing that since exams will now be held twice, the logistical efforts, such as paper setting, distribution, evaluation, and administration, would also need to be carried out twice, thereby making the revised fee structure not only reasonable, but a necessity.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.