The education business seems has no rein in the educational institutions in the country. From Kindergarten to school, colleges, and English mediums and even in private universities, the educational expenses are increasing with having no limit.
The education expenses in government institutions are still affordable, but the same cost in the private institutions is at least 10 times of that of government’s. The expense system in private universities and English medium schools is not under any fixed rules. As a result, the expenses are beyond the scope of affordability for many people and the irregularities here have becoming the reason for suffering of students and guardians.
According to the information, the families of the children have to pay Tk 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh to make them admitted into English Medium Schools. In addition, the yearly fee is almost 2 lakh. The students from KG to Grade 5 in some English medium schools have to pay yearly fee of 31,200 dollars, which is equivalent to Tk 34,000. The educational expenses in private universities are also sky-high, where the students have to pay Tk around 15 lakh for completing a four-year undergraduate degree. As if the private universities were the circus-ground of money spending!
Besides, a huge number of Kindergarten Schools have been cropped in the cities which had no regulations over the formation. The school authorities have been extorting money from the guardians according to their own whims. It’s mandatory for the Kindergarten schools to be registered under Primary Education Directorate. However, only around 300 of them were registered, whereas around 10,000 Kindergarten schools are on in the country. And, in maximum of the schools, the tuition fee is under no control. The government took initiatives to form rules and regulations regarding tuition fees of the private institutions of secondary and higher secondary levels. However, it hasn’t been finalized yet. As a result, there’s no discipline in tuition fees. In many of the private schools, colleges in Dhaka, IT, electricity fees are also charged besides tuition fees.
Director General of Secondary and Higher Education Department Professor Nehal Ahmed told this reporter on Thursday that a policy is being made to determine tuition fees in private educational institutions. After the implementation of this policy, reckless tuition fees will be stopped in these institutions. As there is no specific policy regarding English medium schools, these educational institutions are running according to their own whims. Although there is a rule to take registration from the Board of Education for conducting educational activities, a circular published by the Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Dhaka says that there are only 119 English medium schools registered in the country. The rest are running without any registration.
The private universities of the country are collecting exorbitant tuition fees due to the absence of any policy. Some universities are charging around Tk 15 lakh for the tuition fee alone in the undergraduate program .Apart from this, various fees including admission fee, library fee, lab fee are being collected. It is known that 14 lakh 79 thousand 500 taka is being taken for Bachelor of Pharmacy (B Pharm Professional) course in a private university located in Baridhara of the capital. Apart from this, 12 lakh 76 thousand taka is being taken for Bachelor of Architecture, Tk 11 lakh 39 thousand 500 is being taken in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department. Moreover, another 35,000 taka is being taken for admission fee and concession money for each department. Tk 13 lakh 66 thousand 200 is being collected for the tuition fee of a bachelor of architecture course in a university located in Mohakhali. The tuition fee for Bachelor of Pharmacy in this university is Tk 10 lakh 82 thousand 400. Another 80 thousand 600 is said to be collected in each department for admission fee, lab fee, library fee. It is reported that Tk 10 lakh 35 thousand 500 is being collected for Bachelor of Architecture course in a university located in Tejgaon.
Secretary of the University Grants Commission, Ferdous Zaman said, "A draft policy has been made to stop anarchy regarding tuition fees in private universities. The policy is expected to be finalized in the plenary session of the commission. I hope that there will be no complaints about tuition fees after the policy is made.”
@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on June 16 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque
