Friday | 10 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Friday | 10 January 2025 | Epaper

Rising education cost puts strains on middle-class families 

Published : Saturday, 21 December, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 385
Nafew Sajed Joy
As parents worldwide prepare for the new school year, one thing binds them together: the ever-increasing cost of education that's putting immense pressure on household budgets. In Bangladesh, this burden feels particularly heavy for middle-class families already struggling with soaring inflation, rising transportation costs, surging house rents, unregulated LPG cylinder prices, and the relentless hike in daily commodity prices. Adding to their woes, the festive season is set to arrive early next year, leaving them with little financial breathing room.

For many families, the start of a new year, often a source of joy, brings significant anxiety. The additional burden of enrolling children in school, purchasing notebooks, pens, pencils, and preparing new uniforms can be overwhelming. For families with more than one school-going child, this pressure becomes mountainous. Parents endure hardships to provide their children with the opportunity for a better future and a quality education-even if it means sacrificing other basic needs or incurring debt.

The fiscal year 2024-25 saw the Bangladeshi government allocating 14% of its total budget to education and technology combined. However, excluding technology, only 11.88% was allocated to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. This represents a marginal increase from the 11.57% allocated in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Despite this slight rise, the allocation accounts for only 1.69% of GDP-a figure that falls woefully short of UNESCO's recommended 6%.

According to the latest UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, households in Bangladesh bear almost two-thirds of the total cost of education. Over 40 million students are enrolled from pre-primary to higher education levels across the country. Families spent an average of Tk13,882 annually for each primary school student in 2022. For secondary-level students, the figure was Tk20,712-a number that many families reached within the first half of 2023.

The financial burden is even more pronounced in urban areas, where the annual cost of primary education stood at Tk18,132, compared to Tk10,637 in rural areas during the first half of 2022. These figures underscore the systemic financial challenges that parents face in ensuring their children's education.

Beyond tuition fees, the rising cost of essential school supplies has become another heavy burden for families. For example, the price of paper has jumped from Tk8 per sheet to Tk15-20, while pens now cost Tk5-7 more per dozen. Pencils have gone up from Tk68-72 to Tk100 per dozen, and erasers are Tk3-5 more expensive than before. Colored pencils now cost Tk30-40 more, plastic boards have doubled in price, and geometry boxes have surged from Tk60-80 to Tk150-200. A4 paper packs now cost Tk100-150 more, and local school bags priced at Tk450-500 are now Tk700. Medium-quality bags have risen from Tk800 to Tk1,200, while imported premium bags can now range between Tk2,000 and Tk3,500.

Over just a few months, the prices of these items have increased by 25-50%, with some doubling. While some hikes may be justified, many seem unreasonable and only add to the financial stress of families.

For families already grappling with the rising costs of education, these increases have made an already difficult situation even harder. Even with measures like free textbook distribution and stipends, the out-of-pocket expenses for parents have soared-up by 25% for primary levels and a shocking 51% for secondary levels in 2023. Families are now spending an average of Tk17,294 per primary school child and Tk41,424 for secondary students each year. For low-income and rural households, these costs are pushing education further and further out of reach.

But it's not just the costs. The challenges go deeper. Poor infrastructure, unmotivated teachers, and limited access to digital tools are making it even harder for children to get the quality education they deserve. These issues widen the gap in the education system, and for children living in urban slums, the conditions are often far worse.

The 2010 Education Policy was supposed to provide equitable, quality education, but the reality is far from the goal. The fragmented system, split between Bangla medium, madrasa, and English medium schools, continues to create social divides rather than bridging them.

If we're serious about building a better and more inclusive education system, we need to take bold steps. Decentralizing the management of education, increasing public investment, and creating a statutory education commission are essential reforms. But none of this will work without the political will to protect education from partisan interests. Only with genuine commitment can we hope to ease the financial strain on families and ensure a brighter future for all children.

Bangladesh is not alone in facing the crisis of rising education costs. In Islamabad, parents struggle with surging back-to-school expenses, with essentials like textbooks, stationery, and uniforms becoming unaffordable for many. Private schools exacerbate the issue by imposing annual stationery charges and providing extensive lists of required items, many of which remain unused.

Picture a father of two in Dhaka, skipping meals just to afford notebooks for his children. This is the harsh reality for millions of families. Rising education costs are more than just an economic challenge-they threaten the very fabric of society by limiting access to education and deepening inequality.

Governments, schools, and communities must come together to make education affordable and accessible for all. Only then can we ensure that every child's potential is nurtured, and the hope for a brighter future remains within reach for all families.

The writer is a former student, 
Department of Printing and Publication Studies, 
University of Dhaka



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