Education cost increased by 25% in primary, 51% in secondary

In Bangladesh, the family expenditure on school children is increasing. A family spends about tk14,000 per primary school student per year. And more than Tk27,000 are being spent in secondary school. In the first six months of last year, spending on primary education increased by 25 percent and secondary education by 51 percent. And the major reason for this expenditure is coaching-private and guide books.

These facts emerged in the report titled 'School Education in Bangladesh: Pandemic Response to Sustainable Recovery' by the Coalition Mass Literacy Campaign of non-governmental organizations on Saturday (March 30). A briefing on this research report named Education Watch-2023 was held today at Sirdap Auditorium in the capital.

According to the report, an average of tk13,882 is spent annually for a primary school student in the country. But the cost is less in the village than in the city. An average of tk10,637 is spent in villages and tk18,132 rupees in cities. In the first six months of last year (2023), this cost increased by tk8,647 or 25 percent.

The research has been done by collecting data from 26 upazilas and 5 city corporation areas out of 16 districts of 8 divisions of the country. For the research, information has been taken from a total of 7 thousand 225 people of different classes of students, teachers, guardians, education officers and district and upazila administration officials.

Meanwhile, the average annual expenditure per student in secondary school is tk27,340. Out of this, tk22,909 are spent in villages and a maximum of tk35,662 in city corporation areas. In the first six months of last year, this cost has increased by at least tk20,712 or 51 percent.

This report is prepared on the basis of comparative data from January to December 2022 and from January to June last year (2023).

According to the report, a large part of this cost goes to tuition or coaching centers. Apart from this, the remaining expenditure is on guidebooks, various supporting materials, transportation, food, educational materials (books, notebooks, pens), various school fees and extra-curricular activities.

Research data shows that more than three-fourths of students at primary and secondary levels have taken the help of private tutors or gone to coaching centers. The dependency rates in primary and secondary education were 92 and 93 percent respectively.