Punjab’s educational boards have quietly implemented a sharp increase in registration and migration fees for secondary school students, adding fresh financial strain to thousands of households across the province. The decision, finalized by the Punjab Boards Committee of Chairmen (PBCC), pushes the standard registration fee for 9th-grade students to Rs 1,200, while late fees have been restructured to reach as high as Rs 2,500 depending on the delay
. Migration fees often a necessity for students moving between boards have seen a steeper climb, now set at Rs 4,000 per case. For a family struggling with record-high utility bills and grocery costs, this isn’t just an administrative adjustment. It’s a direct hit to the household budget. “We’re already paying for private tuition because the school system is failing our kids,” said Muhammad Aslam, a Lahore-based father of two secondary students.
“Now, the board expects us to pay more just to register for the exams they are supposed to conduct. Where does it end?”
The boards maintain that the hike is necessary to cover rising operational costs, including the printing of high-security exam papers, the digitization of records, and the logistics of deploying thousands of invigilators across the province.
Internal sources within the Lahore Board suggest that the previous fee structure had become unsustainable against the backdrop of rising paper and fuel prices. However, the lack of a public consultative process has fueled frustration. Student unions and parent associations argue that the timing is particularly poor, coming just as the academic session gains momentum and families are already managing increased school tuition fees.
The hike specifically targets the 9th and 10th-grade cohorts, who form the backbone of the province’s examination revenue. By tightening the migration process and increasing the cost of administrative changes, the boards are effectively locking students into their current districts, regardless of family relocation needs.
While the education department continues to push for a “digital-first” approach to board operations, the cost of this transition is being passed directly to the student. For the thousands of families waiting for their registration slips, the message is clear: the price of a matriculation certificate in Punjab just got significantly higher.
