Late registrations: ‘State won’t interfere in Rs 5K fine’

Kolkata: State Education minister Bratya Basu on Monday said the Education department would not intervene in the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education’s (WBBSE) decision to impose a Rs 5,000 penalty per student on schools that failed to complete registration or correct data for Madhyamik 2026 candidates within the stipulated time.

Basu, speaking at an event on Monday, said he had asked the board for a report. He said the board cited a

Calcutta High Court order issued last year that directed a Rs 20,000 penalty per student for deliberate delay.

“The board has reduced it to Rs 5,000 this year. I have said this is the board’s matter and the department will not intervene,” Basu said.

Board officials said around 60 schools had pending registration work for some of their class X students. Fifty schools attended a hearing on December 5, where they were informed of the penalty and instructed to pay it by Monday. All schools have complied, sources said.

Earlier, Basu inaugurated Bhasha Mela 2025, organised by the Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR) at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town. The language festival will continue till December 10.

In his address, Basu said the government aimed to ensure space and recognition for every language spoken in the state and that the ILSR would publish books in each of them and upload them online. “We have brought representatives of Bengal’s 68 languages,” he said, adding that the state “believes in plurality”.

He said learning additional languages was necessary and referred to the state’s establishment of a Hindi university. “I do not know how many states have a Bengali university, but our state has a Hindi university,” he said.