ICSE slashes examination fee by half

Berhampur (Odisha): The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, which runs around 2000 schools across the country, has decided to reduce its examination fee for Class X and Class XII students by over 50 per cent from next year. “We have decided to reduce examination fees from Rs 2100 to Rs 1000 this time,” said CISCE chairman Jose Aikara. “The Council had increased the examination fees as it required funds for various purposes. The Council has decided to cut the amount from next year for the benefit of students,” he said on the sideline of a function here. [caption id=“attachment_474925” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] About 1.60 lakh students in Class X and 80,000 students in Class XII examinations had appeared last time. The number of candidates for both the examinations was expected to increase this time, he said. He said CISCE had already introduced the common syllabus at the higher secondary level. The students would appear for the examinations in 2014 as per the common syllabus designed as per the suggestions given by experts. The syllabus of Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Commerce had been changed as per suggestion by experts. The government wanted that the students appear in the examination in 2014 in uniform syllabus across the country. He, however, said CISCE would maintain its identity from others, adding a few more subjects in some courses. “Extra courses which are relevant to the students and will help them in the all India joint entrance examinations for the professional courses have been added,” Aikara said. He said the CISCE had made the English language subject more difficult than CBSE keeping an eye on the future examinations of the students and aspirations of the parents. On advantages of CISCE course, he claimed it was recognised by many foreign countries, including UK and students were not required to clear the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to study abroad. PTI