Primary scholarship policy

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Most students in Bangladesh are poor. They need financial support to study. The government of Bangladesh introduced primary scholarship programme long ago to aid the students financially and to attract them to study. A thana-wise quota has been introduced to distribute the scholarship money to every area. Increasing the number of scholarship would ensure the availability of financial facility to more students and raising the monthly amount of scholarship definitely would help reduce the drop-out problem.
A student who is selected for primary scholarship on the basis of thana-wise quota through a competitive examination is given Tk. 175.00 only per month as scholarship money at present. This is too inadequate in relation to present price level of all consumer items. To ensure the availability of scholarship to poor students, well-to-do students should be kept out of financial benefits. Well-to-do students should, instead, be given a recognition certificate by the scholarship management authority as meritorious students when they perform well in scholarship examination. The government needs to increase the number of scholarships as well as the amount of scholarship money, and also restrict financial benefit to the well-to-do students.
We urge the authorities concerned to double the number for primary scholarship and to increase the monthly scholarship money per student up to Tk. 500.00 and restrict scholarship money to well-to-do students. Such measures will contribute to attaining the goals of primary scholarship programme of the government.
Md. Ashraf Hossain
120, Central Bashabo
E-mail: mah120cb@yahoo.com