Finally, the government has withdrawn the 7.5 per cent value-added tax (VAT) on private universities, private medical and engineering colleges against the backdrop of pitched street agitation for four days in Dhaka and other cities of the country. The movement of the students and the intellectual support behind it has awakened 'good sense' in the government. It thought the lifting was the right thing to do as there were untold public sufferings due to street agitation and probable unpopularity among the young voters.
On the first day of demonstrations, there were some clashes between the students and the police in Rampura area of Dhaka city. On other days, the situation did not witness any such clashes. Police and students were found friendly to each other. Cops were seen having good gestures towards the protesters. The agitating students were also non-violent. The matter has now been solved.
In Bangladesh, the public universities can not accommodate more than 25 per cent of students who pass Higher Secondary School (HSC) examinations. The emergence of a large number of private universities has created room for the higher education-seeking youth. It is known to all that pursuing studies in the private universities and in private medical and engineering colleges is very costly.
As of today, yearly tuition fees vary from Tk. 75,000 to Tk. 150,000 for a student as it is different from one private university to another. On the other hand, the monthly tuition fee for a student in a public university is around Tk. 20 only. Obviously, there are less facilities in private universities in terms of faculty members, laboratories, classrooms, stipends, scholarships, playgrounds, libraries and etc. compared to public universities. Still then, students and their guardians are compelled by circumstances to look to private universities. If public universities could accommodate them, that would have been the best solution.
Every student, who reads in a private university, is not always the son of a rich man. Most of them are sons and daughters of middle income and lower middle income people. Say, a senior civil servant whose monthly income is less than Tk 1,00,000 (according to the new pay scale) has an offspring whom he is compelled to send to a private university. He will surely be under severe strains to bear the costs. Many students come from rural areas. Their parents' incomes are agriculture-based. Some of them have to sell or lease out their lands to meet their high tuition fees in the private universities. Fathers of a few students may work abroad. They send money for their studies at home. They earn it with hard labour.
The irony is that VAT was imposed on private universities and private medical and engineering colleges where students are already hit hard and their guardians are financially overburdened. The imposition of VAT on private universities does not add any value to their education. In any sense, it detracts students from higher education.
In Bangladesh, people are aware of several thousands of rich men. Nobody should think that their sons and daughters always study in Bangladesh's private universities. If so, the number will only be a few. Some of them study in costly primary and secondary-level English medium schools. The rest are sent abroad for higher studies. A study suggests that more than 50,000 rich families have sent their children abroad for higher studies. These countries mostly include the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Malaysia and India. Many of these families even have bought houses and flats in foreign countries. Many of them have procured business residence permits in those countries. Other professionals also have sent their off-springs to those countries for higher studies.
There was a press report that about 5,000 Bangladeshi students study in Malaysia. It is always observed in newspapers about opportunities of higher studies (under-graduate and post-graduate medical and engineering) in Malaysia. The advertisements show low cost for higher education there. One can complete graduation with Tk 500,000 only. Many Bangladeshi students are being encouraged by such advertisements. If the local condition becomes worse (high cost of study and domestic instability), this is the only option left open to them. They will certainly be tempted to go abroad for higher studies where cost of study is lower and then there is stability.
Bangladesh is a country where, among other social indicators, literacy rate is increasing. Again it is a country where quality of education is in question. Amid a contradictory situation many brilliant boys, on the other hand, have been going abroad for higher studies and for good jobs. On the other hand, the wholesale good results in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and HSC examinations have raised some doubts among the informed circles. Both standard and absorption of large students have become a subject of intellectual discussion. Session jams and teacher-student politics in public universities have become concerns for many.
The growth of private universities, though commendable, is associated with exorbitant fees. Sometimes, the question of quality education in some private universities is now a topic of discussion. Sometimes, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is found to have taken some actions against such universities. Still, there are a lot of questions about the activities of private universities in Bangladesh.
The whole situation in the education sector, including private universities and private medical and engineering colleges, calls for a rational and realistic approach to keep the sector on the right track. The efforts of the government should now aim at ensuring education for all and quality education at a low cost. It is also the duty of the government to formulate rules, regulations and policies in consultation with concerned professionals (teachers and others) and bodies (UGC, universities, civil society, education depts and journalists) to provide educational facilities and ensure quality education at a low-cost (even with subsidy).
The writer is an economist
and columnist.
chowdhuryjafar@gmail.com
Quality education at a low cost
Jafar Ahmed Chowdhury | Published: September 19, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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