High cost of learning materials deter education

The importance of paper, ink and pencils in aiding learning cannot be overemphasised. While we speak of all out effort for increasing enrolment and universalization of primary education in the rural areas, we conveniently forget to crate conditions which might help achieve the stated objectives. Any one can say that the present price of papers, pencils and ink and other learning materials is working as a deterrent against the increase of enrolment in the rural primary schools and it is an easy guess that universal primary education is going to remain a far cry for a long time to come not to speak of achieving it within foreseeable future.

It is a matter of great regret that our planners fail to comprehend how the poverty stricken people in the villages with the lowest per capita income in the world can manage to pay for the education of their children. Already 24 small sheets of white paper sell at Tk 16, the same number of low quality newsprint sheets sell for Tk 10, a wood pencil costs Tk five a piece, a local made pot of ink sells at Tk 16. Add to this the cost of textbooks and the situation will be clear regarding what we profess and what we practice. It is not difficult to realise why it is impossible for a day-labourer earning less that Tk 50 a day to send his children to school. Unless something is done about the cost of schooling for the poor man of the country, the universalisation of primary education is going to remain a pious wish never to be attained. But there is no denying that at least education upto the primary level for all citizens is very vital for our survival as a nation.

While no one will deny the benefits of free enterprise as an economic practice, it should not be used with impunity. In this case, the example of recent local bodies election may be mentioned. Millions of taka worth of paper is used in preparing posters for electioneering. The sudden leap for demand of paper has increased the price of paper substantially causing hardship to the low income group.

While no one will deny the importance of publicity and electioneering to uphold the practice of democracy, it is at the same time to be mooted whether we should squander our meagre resources for election campaigning while adequate amount of paper is not available at reasonable price for our school children who need them for learning purposes. When commodities are not abundantly available for both the purposes, we have to decide which one is more vital for us in the long run for the sake of the future for the country. The decision, no doubt, is not an easy one. However, one should keep in mind the question of priority and national interest and act accordingly.

So much about the wastage of paper. How about the availability of other learning materials like writing instruments as pencils, pen and ink which are essential learning aids besides the textbook? It has already been mentioned that their price is also very exorbitant. One can now easily surmise how much costly it is for the child of a poor villager to have and education.

It is surprising that we talk of universal enrolment for the augmentation of primary education and at the same time we cannot ensure the availability of the learning materials at a reasonable price which the poor parents can afford.

Now the question of textbook prices may be raised. One may recall that immediately after liberation, the prices of primary and secondary school textbooks were substantially reduced for the justified reason to give relief to the poor parents. However, due to reasons known only to the authorities concerned, the prices of textbooks have been increased five to ten times from that of the post liberation period.

The question has been raised that it is no longer possible for the government to subsidise the cost of education. None is going to deny that there is a point in this policy. But what about the damage it is going to do to the national goal of spreading education?

While we are subsidising higher education where sons and daughters of the affluent class are enrolled, there cannot be any valid argument for not subsidising the cost of primary education which is one of the fundamental rights of a citizen.

If we really think that education must be assigned priority we must show this by our action. I suggest, that for the spread and progress of primary education, the following steps should be taken for making available essential learning materials to the children of poor parents in the rural schools.

Textbooks should be supplied to the poor pupils free of cost depending on the income of their parents.

Fair price shops should be opened on the school premises for supply of writing papers, pencils, pens and ink.

Those who are extremely poor, they should be supplied these materials free of cost. Obviously, implementation of these steps is going to cost the government heavily, but the ultimate benefit that will be gained by making a literate nation with functional knowledge will offset the initial investment in education in manifold returns.

Dr Ashraf Ali is professor and Director, IER, Dhaka University.