Although students in government primary and secondary schools receive free textbooks, parents are spending thousands of taka each year to keep their children in education.
Costs for private tuition, coaching, guidebooks, notebooks, stationery, uniforms, shoes, transport and examination fees are placing an increasing burden on households, particularly those with low or limited incomes.
For some families, financial hardship has forced them to send their children to residential madrasas, while others have withdrawn their children from school and put them to work.
The Education Watch 2023 study on education monitoring, conducted by the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), provides an overview of household spending on students.
According to the study, the average annual household expenditure on a primary school student was Tk13,882 in 2022, compared with Tk27,340 for a secondary school student. This means families spent almost twice as much on a secondary-level student as on a primary-level one.
The costs were higher in urban areas. In 2022, the average annual household expenditure per primary student in cities stood at Tk18,132, while the figure for secondary students was Tk35,662.
The study also found a sharp rise in spending during the first six months of 2023. During that period, households spent Tk8,647 on average per primary student and Tk20,712 per secondary student.
Based on the expenditure recorded in the first half of 2023 compared with the 2022 figures, researchers estimated that annual education costs had risen by 25% at the primary level and 51% at the secondary level.
These figures, however, are several years old. Since then, the cost of living—including prices of essential goods, house rents and transport—has continued to rise.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), overall inflation stood at 8.34% in September 2026, while wage growth was 7.9%. Wage growth has remained below inflation for 56 consecutive months, reducing the real purchasing power of people on limited incomes and making it increasingly difficult for families to meet education expenses.
Low-income parents struggle
Marjina Khatun, 45, from Uluhati village in Nandail Upazila of Mymensingh, lives in a rented home on Road 2 behind Nabodoy Bazar in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.
As her husband’s income is insufficient to support the family, she works as a domestic worker in three households, earning around Tk9,000 a month. Her husband, Moti Mia, drives a battery-powered rickshaw in the capital. After paying the daily rental charge and garage fees, he takes home Tk500-600 a day. Even then, the couple has to borrow money to meet household expenses.
Of their three children, their eldest daughter, Sadia Akter Mohona, is married. Marjina said she could not continue her daughter’s education because of financial constraints.
Their second daughter, Samia Akter, is in Class VII at Sandipan School in the Nabodoy area, while their youngest daughter, Lamia Akter, is in kindergarten.
Marjina said Samia’s monthly tuition fee is Tk700. Although she received free textbooks for Class VII, the family had to spend Tk1,500 on guidebooks and Tk550 on notebooks and pens. They also have to pay for her school uniform, shoes and bag.
In total, the family spends around Tk11,000-12,000 a year on Samia’s education, she said.
Moti Mia said his earnings from driving a rickshaw used to be higher, while the rental charge was lower. His income has now fallen by nearly half, making it impossible to cover household expenses and his daughters’ education costs. As a result, his wife has also had to work in other people’s homes.
Meanwhile, a parent in Mirpur provided a breakdown of the expenses for a child studying at Cantonment Public School, estimating the first-year cost at around Tk238,200.
The admission fee is Tk22,000. Books, notebooks and stationery cost Tk5,000, while the uniform costs Tk2,200, shoes Tk1,000 and a schoolbag Tk3,000. The family also spends Tk2,000 on guidebooks and another Tk3,000 on optional books. An additional Tk2,000 is required annually for class parties, picnics and educational trips.
The parent, who requested anonymity, said the monthly expenses include Tk5,000 in tuition fees, Tk7,000 for the school bus, Tk1,500 for notebooks and pens, and around Tk3,000 for tiffin.
This brings the monthly expenditure to Tk16,500, or Tk198,000 a year. In addition, the school charges Tk700 for each examination, while students are fined Tk50 for every day they are absent.
The parent said the family could not afford a school with even higher fees, which was why they chose Cantonment Public School.
Families choose alternatives
Some parents who cannot afford the expenses of mainstream schools are turning to alternative institutions.
Delwar Hossain, a rickshaw driver living in Mohammadpur Housing Society, said he had admitted his child to a residential madrasa because he could not afford the cost of regular schooling. The monthly fee of Tk1,500 covers accommodation and meals.
Rasel, a rickshaw driver living in Dhaka Udyan, has three sons. Unable to bear the cost of their education, he sent his eldest son, 15-year-old Niloy, to work at a garment factory. His second son, 10-year-old Nirob, has also been taken out of school and put to work at a chicken shop.
His youngest son, eight-year-old Nehat, attends Protiva School near their home, where the monthly fee is Tk1,500. Rasel said even this expense had become difficult to manage and that he was considering enrolling the boy in a government primary school.
Call to improve standards at govt primary schools
Education researcher KM Enamul Haque said household spending on primary and secondary education had increased since the 2022 study, as living costs had risen while people's incomes had not kept pace.
The burden was particularly severe for families from marginalised communities, he said.
He added that financial hardship was forcing many children from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the workforce and abandon their studies.
To address the situation, investment in education must increase, inequalities must be reduced and measures must be taken to keep children in school, he said.
Haque also noted that families could spend less by sending their children to government primary schools, which are more widely available. However, dissatisfaction among parents over the quality of education at these institutions has contributed to the growth of kindergarten schools in both urban and rural areas, increasing household expenses.
He stressed the need to improve the quality of government primary schools.
Educationist, children's author, education columnist and former principal Md Rahmat Ullah said disparities in access to public and private education were also contributing to rising costs.
Although government primary schools are widely available, many parents turn to private institutions because they are dissatisfied with the quality of education, he said. At the secondary level, private schools outnumber government institutions, leaving many students with little choice but to attend fee-charging schools.
Alongside school fees, families also have to spend substantial amounts on private tuition, he added.
Rahmat Ullah called for an expansion of government primary schools and improvements in their teaching standards, as well as the establishment of more government secondary schools.
He also stressed the need to improve benefits for teachers at private institutions to attract qualified professionals to the sector. Ensuring effective working hours for teachers and reducing disparities across different streams of education were also essential, he said.
The government must take responsibility for ensuring quality education for all, he added.
Govt plans free uniforms, shoes and bags
Alongside free textbooks, the government has taken an initiative to provide students at government primary schools with free uniforms, shoes and jute bags.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education said the programme was being implemented under the directive of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon had earlier announced that the initiative would begin on a pilot basis in July.
Under the first phase, the government planned to distribute the items among around 100,000 Class I students at 3,522 government primary schools across 25 upazilas and thanas.
However, distribution had not begun at schools even by early November.
As of September 20, the Directorate of Primary Education had received 205,000 sets of uniforms, 67,900 pairs of shoes and 115,216 bags.
Once distributed, the items are expected to reduce some of the expenses parents of primary school students face for uniforms, shoes and bags.
Education should be seen as an investment
Professor Dr Abdullah Al-Mamun, a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), said investment in education must not be reduced despite rising expenditure on students.
The government was providing various forms of support to students and had also taken an initiative to distribute uniforms, shoes and bags to schoolchildren. Even so, education costs continued to rise, he said.
He told Bangla Tribune that such spending should be viewed as an investment in developing the country's human resources.
“We are now enjoying the benefits of the demographic dividend. It is essential to make use of this period to develop human resources. The government is trying to rebuild the economy amid various challenges. Even in this situation, steps have been taken to increase allocations for education. The target is to raise education spending to 5% of GDP. The allocation for the sector has already been increased to 2%,” he said.
He added, “Spending on education is never a bad investment. The positive impact of investment in education is recognised around the world. Education plays an important role in creating employment and developing skills. Therefore, expenditure on education should not be viewed simply as a cost, but as an investment in building human resources.”