Sahadat Hossain :
Education is one of the basic needs of human. But today in Bangladesh, it is a source of earning money. Both private and public educational institutions are trying to earn money by providing educational facilities. Of course, private institutions are in the front line in this case.
According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, the government has to provide all the basic needs of the people. It is clearly stated in the Article 15-A, “It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the State to attain, through planned economic growth, a constant increase of productive forces and a steady improvement in the material and cultural standard of living of the people, with a view to securing to its citizens – the provision of the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care”. But now the government is doing the opposite. Otherwise, they are acting irresponsibly. Moreover, government imposed VAT on education – a human basic need is really contradictory to our Constitution.
On July 4, 2015 the NBR issued a notification imposing 7.5% VAT on the tuition fees of private universities and medical colleges. The general students didn’t take it normally. A silent discontent grew up and brust out on September 9, 2015 in Dhaka. Students of East West University showed the first demonstration.
Police charged baton and fired on the students to stop the movement. At least 20 students, including a teacher, were injured. After that, students of NSU, AIUB, BRAC and others joined the movement.
We also extend moral support to them.
To stop a movement by using force is not the proper way. It just accelerates the movement. We should bear in mind that oppression could never stop a legal cause. It is true for the future also.
Imposition of VAT on students’ tuition fees is not a good decision. The students those who are studying at private universities, most of them are not so rich. Most of them have come from the middle or the lower middle class families. Usually, they have to face a lot of trouble while paying semester fees. Now the extra unnecessary 7.5 percent VAT will add more trouble for them.
It is to be noted that, the government has decreased the budget on research and education. They are trying to establish the UGC’s blue print on financial affairs of the universities. That is also contradictory to our Constitution. And this decision is more harmful for the nation.
If we observe the case of the developed countries, their governments pay full concentration to meet all the basic needs of education and research. If we really want to progress in all aspect of our country, we have to develop our education.
Without doing it, no progress can be done.
To conclude, the government should withdraw all the extra VAT on students’ tuition fees and provide more budgetary allocation for the advancement of education and research.
Education is one of the basic needs of human. But today in Bangladesh, it is a source of earning money. Both private and public educational institutions are trying to earn money by providing educational facilities. Of course, private institutions are in the front line in this case.
According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, the government has to provide all the basic needs of the people. It is clearly stated in the Article 15-A, “It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the State to attain, through planned economic growth, a constant increase of productive forces and a steady improvement in the material and cultural standard of living of the people, with a view to securing to its citizens – the provision of the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care”. But now the government is doing the opposite. Otherwise, they are acting irresponsibly. Moreover, government imposed VAT on education – a human basic need is really contradictory to our Constitution.
On July 4, 2015 the NBR issued a notification imposing 7.5% VAT on the tuition fees of private universities and medical colleges. The general students didn’t take it normally. A silent discontent grew up and brust out on September 9, 2015 in Dhaka. Students of East West University showed the first demonstration.
Police charged baton and fired on the students to stop the movement. At least 20 students, including a teacher, were injured. After that, students of NSU, AIUB, BRAC and others joined the movement.
We also extend moral support to them.
To stop a movement by using force is not the proper way. It just accelerates the movement. We should bear in mind that oppression could never stop a legal cause. It is true for the future also.
Imposition of VAT on students’ tuition fees is not a good decision. The students those who are studying at private universities, most of them are not so rich. Most of them have come from the middle or the lower middle class families. Usually, they have to face a lot of trouble while paying semester fees. Now the extra unnecessary 7.5 percent VAT will add more trouble for them.
It is to be noted that, the government has decreased the budget on research and education. They are trying to establish the UGC’s blue print on financial affairs of the universities. That is also contradictory to our Constitution. And this decision is more harmful for the nation.
If we observe the case of the developed countries, their governments pay full concentration to meet all the basic needs of education and research. If we really want to progress in all aspect of our country, we have to develop our education.
Without doing it, no progress can be done.
To conclude, the government should withdraw all the extra VAT on students’ tuition fees and provide more budgetary allocation for the advancement of education and research.
