Maharashtra begins the process of refunding exam fees to class 10, 12 students

The board has decided to refund the amount after the board exams were canceled this year in view of the coronavirus pandemic. For some time, there was a demand to refund the examination fee.

The board said in a statement, “This year both SSC and HSC examinations were canceled due to increase in COVID-19 cases. Following the Bombay HC order, the state board has decided to refund the examination fee amount to the concerned students.” “

An education board official said that to get the refund, students will have to register themselves on the board’s portal, where they will be provided with a link.

This comes almost three months after the Bombay High Court had asked the board to consider refunding the fees collected from SSC and HSC students.

The direction came after questions raised by activists, who asked why the state board did not come back. 150 crores were recovered from around 34 lakh students when board exams in states and education boards were cancelled.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court in August dismissed a petition filed by parents asking state board officials to refund the examination fees of students.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari observed that they did not see any merit in the argument put forth by the parents and supported the arguments put forth by the board.

The court said that the board had already made preparations to conduct the board exams, but the second wave of Kovid-19 caused a lot of disruption, due to which they had to be cancelled.

“Thus, it justifies all the expenses incurred by the boards before the second wave hits,” it said.

The court then held that refund of examination fee is not in the control or best interest of the state boards, as they themselves act on examination fee.