Increased cost in education will create more dropouts and early marriages
22 December 2022
For the middle class people, not just the poor ones, it has become very difficult to maintain the educational expenses of their children, thanks to the high inflation that the country is going through at present. A new academic session will start soon, but for most families the increased expenses to buy study materials and books have become unbearable. Added to this is the burden of additional admission and tuition fees.
Over the years, it has become a practice among the most non-government and private educational institutions to take admission fees of their own students when they go to a new class. These educational institutions are acting like coaching centres where all students have to be readmitted on year end. Moreover, the education ministry's fixed amount of admission fee is also not followed by many schools and colleges. They take more.
While these kinds of irregularities have been prevailing making education costly for most families, the increased cost of study materials including books has hit all people except the few rich ones. At this difficult time of economy when it has become difficult for many to arrange two square meals a day, this situation will certainly push many poor families to stop sending their children to schools altogether. As a result, dropouts from school and colleges will occur with an increase in early marriages among the poor families in rural areas.
Every stationery item has seen a phenomenal rise. According to a report in this newspaper yesterday prices of stationery items, study materials and books have increased by 30-70 per cent. The price of paper has gone high with some schools across the country having to stop printing question papers for exams and questions were written on the blackboards of the classes. It was reported that the price of a binding notebook went up to Tk 80 from Tk 50. The costs of books and Xerox photocopy have almost doubled within a few months. University students are also grappling to meet the expenses of education.
When maintaining life and education has become so difficult, the government seems to be blissfully happy by remaining in power albeit illegally. It is a real pity that people in government do not feel the pain of the common people.
