The other side of studying abroad

Throughout the country, parents are selling their property, gold ornaments or savings bonds to send their sons and daughters abroad as students, often on the recommendation of an education consultancy firm and without proper knowledge of the institution or the job market they will enter. The BRAC Migration Programme and IOM Bangladesh have highlighted this trend, in which students end up at lesser-known private institutions, take on part-time jobs to meet expenses that far exceed the expectations set initially, and must begin repaying their families' debts before they have even completed their studies. An issue that, until recent years, was confined to a handful of families has emerged over the last decade as one of the major trends in contemporary Bangladesh.

The current wave of ambition is driven more by the duration of post-study work permits and the ease of obtaining permanent residence than by university rankings. Unfortunately, the higher education sector of Bangladesh has not been able to grow in step with demand. Public universities are highly competitive, and quality private institutions are few and available only in selected cities. In fact, many now consider studying abroad less an ambition and more a necessity, owing to the structure of opportunities at home.

The underlying trend here, however, is migration itself. For many prospective students, the overseas academic degree has become intrinsically linked with settling permanently in the destination country. In a survey by IDP Education, published in its "Emerging Futures 2023" report, 63 per cent of international students said they consider post-study work opportunities essential when deciding where to study. Student visas have become a social migration pathway, not merely an educational one.

The huge demand for these services has resulted in the creation of a shadow industry. According to a 2023 working paper from the research organisation SANEM, the industry's annual turnover has been assessed at over Tk 50 billion (Tk 5,000 crore). Naturally, such an industry attracts players who have no business apart from selling dreams. IOM Bangladesh has cited cases in which students paid between Tk 0.5 milion (Tk 5 lakh) and Tk 1.0 million(Tk 10 lakh) for fake documents and promises of assured jobs.

The Foreign Admission and Career Development Consultants Association of Bangladesh has only a few hundred registered members, yet around two thousand consultancy firms are active in Dhaka alone. This is possible because of a gap in regulation: anybody holding a trade licence is allowed to operate as an education consultant. Even fraudulent agencies return to business after legal action has been taken against them, because they are charged under the fraud clause of the Penal Code - a relatively minor offence that allows them to secure bail.

Here, it is the agency that makes all the gains. Some agencies collect commissions from destination colleges — low-ranked private institutions that use international students as a means of making money. The financial pressure, moreover, does not stop at agency fees. According to Bangladesh Bank statistics, education-related remittances crossed US$ 1.3 billion in the last fiscal year, almost equal to the entire annual budget of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. This is no longer a matter of individual households; it reflects a major shift of national savings towards education abroad.

Families are spending their money to buy opportunity, but with it come several vulnerabilities. This side of the situation is never illustrated in the agency brochure: the loneliness of chilly winter nights. Research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders has found that mental health problems are very common among students who study abroad. It is not simply a case of nostalgia or homesickness. The stress comes from the burden of debt, culture shock, academic demands and pressure from family.

Indeed, nearly two in every five international students have considered dropping out — a far greater proportion than among local students. There are currently no reliable data available on dropout or return migration among Bangladeshi students. No one seems to monitor whether students disappear from classes, because no institution is tasked with doing so. What is clear, however, is that most international students who manage to secure a work permit become permanent residents of countries that offer generous post-study opportunities.

The effect on Bangladesh is not limited to the migration of its citizens. The country suffers the loss of professionals educated with state money, whose skills are then put to use abroad. According to SANEM's 2023 working paper, the state's investment in the education of a single doctor who leaves the country could exceed Tk 15 million (Tk 1.5 crore). Considering the sheer number of trained minds migrating from Bangladesh, the losses to the state can be enormous. Though the diaspora could help Bangladesh through investment and knowledge transfer, there is no strategic mechanism for utilising this advantage.

It is first necessary to close the gap whereby a business can begin operations on the simple strength of a trade licence. The government should set specific criteria for issuing trade licences to education consultancy firms— as is currently required of recruitment agencies and travel agencies — along with establishing an appropriate monitoring authority to inspect, conduct audits and cancel licences, instead of relying on fraud charges as a post-hoc remedy. Students and parents need credible, independent data on institutions, costs and realistic employment opportunities. Pre-departure orientation, already compulsory in countries such as New Zealand, should go beyond being a mere visa requirement checklist and become genuine training in language, culture and mental health.

Finally, counselling services should be set up in universities and under the University Grants Commission to ensure that students can make informed decisions before they fall into the hands of agents. Alongside this, the government should develop an effective diaspora engagement framework, with provisions for the tax-neutral return of highly skilled professionals, quick credential recognition, research grants, and a nationwide database of graduates abroad so as to keep in touch with them.

None of this should be taken as an indictment of the value of studying abroad. International education remains one of the most potent means of human development, and no nation has ever risen by turning its back on the rest of the world. But for Bangladesh - whether at the level of the individual family or at the level of the ministries - this exodus of students is an opportunity that must be handled as a complex venture rather than as a golden chance. Every young person embarking on this journey, clutching a partial truth peddled by an ambitious agent, also carries with them the dreams of a family and, in some measure, of a whole nation.

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