The education committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has demanded that the civic body resume paying the fees for intermediate and elementary grade exams that civic school students want to appear for. The corporation had discontinued paying the fees since 2011, as there were discrepancies in the accounts submitted for the enrolments done in previous exams. The committee member has said that the corporation should start paying fees again as the discontinuation has affected many students who are unable to pay the fees.
Speaking about the issue, Shivnath Darade, BMC education committee member said that the intermediate and elementary grade exams of the Maharashtra State Board were important for the students as it helped them improve upon their drawing skills. “While the elementary exam is conducted for students till Class 7, the intermediate exams are for students from Classes 8 to 10. The exams were useful to the students to hone their drawing skills and also helped them in their board exams,” said Mr Darade.
Realising the importance of the same, the corporation had been paying the fees to the Maharashtra State Board since the two exams started in 2006. However, due to some discrepancies in the payments, proper accounts of which had not been submitted, the corporation decided to stop paying the fees. Mr Darade said that it had put students at a disadvantage, as they could not afford to pay the fees of the exams. “Though the fee amount is nominal, the number of students enrolling for the exams has gone down. In fact, many teachers end up paying the fees on behalf of the students since the corporation stopped paying the fees in 2011. The issue was taken up in the education committee meeting and we have concluded that the student community should not suffer due to the mistakes of officials who were guilty of not submitting proper accounts of the fees paid,” said Mr Darade.
When asked about the same, an official from BMC’s education department said that the decision of stopping payment of the fees for the exams was taken by the standing committee. “The issue was placed in the standing committee, which decided that the payment should be discontinued as the accounts were not in order. The department has no role in stopping the payment,” said the official.
