Coaching, guidebooks hike educational costs
Staff Reporter :
Experts have articulated that the expenditure on primary and secondary education should be reduced based on the country’s socio-economic condition, but research has found that the expenses are on the rise.
Recent research data indicates that family expenditure on education has increased by 25 percent in primary and 51 percent in secondary compared to the previous year (2022), and the major reason behind this expenditure is coaching, private tutoring, and guidebooks.
The research report titled ‘School Education in Bangladesh: Towards Sustainable Recovery from the Pandemic’ conducted by the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) was revealed on Saturday at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital.
The Executive Director of the CAMPE and former caretaker government adviser, Rashida K. Chowdhury, has stated that they will formally present this research report to the relevant authorities in the government.
However, during the research period, representatives from the concerned departments of the government were also involved, and their opinions were also considered.
Mustafizur Rahman, Deputy Director of the CAMPE and member of the research team, presented the research data, which was gathered from 26 upazilas and 5 city corporations across 16 districts in all 8 divisions of the country.
For the research, information was collected from a total of 7,225 individuals, including students from various grades of primary and secondary education, teachers, parents, education officials, and district and upazila administration officials.
Mustafizur Rahman revealed that the expenditure pattern of students has been identified based on the expenses of students in the fifth and ninth grades.
He mentioned that in 2022 (January-December), the average annual family expenditure for a student in primary school in the country was Tk. 13,882. However, this expenditure was higher in urban areas.
In rural areas, the average annual family expenditure for a primary school student was Tk. 10,637, whereas in urban areas, it was Tk. 18,132.
However, in the following year, i.e., in the first six months of 2023, this expenditure had increased by 25 percent in primary education alone, reaching Tk. 8,647.
The expenditure in 2022 for a student at the secondary level was Tk. 27,340. In rural areas, this expense was Tk. 22,909, while in urban areas, it was Tk. 35,662.
However, in the first six months of the past year, this expenditure increased by 51 percent, reaching Tk. 20,712.
Mustafizur Rahman said that in both the primary and secondary sectors, the primary expenses were mainly due to private tutor fees and expenses on notes or guidebooks.
The research indicates that 56.5 percent of primary-level students and 52.6 percent of secondary-level students expressed significant apprehension about their new grade’s curriculum after the pandemic.
However, nearly half of the students faced difficulties understanding the lessons.
On both the primary and secondary levels, more than three-fourths of the students have sought assistance from private tutors or attended coaching centres.
Both students and parents have reported similar information. Due to inadequate classroom teaching, students relied more on guidebooks. The dependency rates on guidebooks in primary and secondary education were 92 and 93 percent, respectively.
More than 41 percent of primary-level students and 58 percent of secondary-level students have expressed that they have access to the internet.
The majority of them use the internet through smartphones. However, 8 percent of primary-level students and 17 percent of secondary-level students mentioned using the internet for school-related activities or academic purposes.
On the other hand, almost two-thirds of primary and secondary level teachers lack a clear understanding of ‘blended learning (online and offline)’ methods.
The research indicates that, due to the circumstances created by the spread of the coronavirus, some students have not returned to school after leaving.
