Unheard and unsolved struggles of Bangladeshi working students

Hailing from diverse backgrounds, balancing books and bills is not a choice but a challenge for many students in Bangladesh. Due to the lack of proper systematic structures and social framework, the continued suffering of working students in Bangladesh continues to remain unheard, unrecognised, and unsolved.

Rapid modernisation has exacerbated the ever-widening gap between economic classes. In the rat race of memorizing GK and settling down, we have lost an important element: the culture of working part-time jobs as a student.

Aside from the obvious benefit of providing a living and financial security, working part-time as a student provides several additional advantages. It acquaints students with office culture, teaches them how to deal with real-life situations, prioritises when you have more than you can handle, and strikes the perfect work-life balance. 

One of the most essential but often overlooked benefits it provides is broadening a student's understanding of what kind of work they want to do and don't want to do, thus providing a clearer vision of the path they want to take after graduation early in their career. It provides the currency of the 21st century, networking, which, in the right field, can keep you ahead of hundreds of competitors. 

Working students are a mainstream occurrence in roughly every country of the world. According to a survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in developed countries, between 64% and 41% of students are employed and part of the labour force. 

Though youths working alongside their studies is a common scenario in Bangladesh, data and information regarding their number, nature of work, work environment, financial condition, earnings, and work hours are unavailable. 

Neither university curricula nor work environments in Bangladesh are student-friendly, much less accommodating of the individuals forced to work part-time to make ends meet. Part-time working students face many systematic constraints, but their voices are seldom heard.

Nowshin Salsabil, a student of the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka, told the Financial Express that she works as a private tutor, which is the most common way of earning money for most students in Dhaka. 

"The guardians of the students rarely try to understand that the person tutoring their child is also a student herself. They are not willing to provide flexible hours and understand academic emergencies." 

She also voices that random academic scheduling, unstructured routines, and sudden conjured-up exams are her main obstacles as a working student. 

Imran Hosen, a student from the Faculty of Social Science, University of Dhaka, shared about the discriminative attitude he has noticed in job sectors. 

"Employers have a soft corner for the students of science faculty and superstitiously perceive them as more capable for the job, even if the work doesn't require any specialisation on science." 

He also shed light on how Dhaka's traffic jams curb most of his productive hours. 
"It is impossible to sustain the student's work culture without solving the problem of traffic jams first", he strongly emphasizes.

Priyonti Tripura, an undergraduate student from DU International Relations, expressed safety concerns as a woman and the contrasting nature of the Bangladeshi work environment, academic demands, and attitude toward working women with the hours and commitments the jobs typically require. 

"It would be more feasible if there were sufficient online working opportunities for students, as it would greatly mitigate the safety and time concerns we have to face," she remarked. 

Khuzista Tasnim, a Department of Agriculture Economics student at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, faced some issues after starting her online business in 2018. 

"People of Bangladesh, largely, do not recognise Online Business conducted by students as employment. I wish my family members and peers were more aware and supportive during the initial stage of my business," she shared. 

Shuvo Koiri, a student entrepreneur, shared similar sentiments. "I have been told to give up my initiatives and was advised to do tuitions. I was mocked several times and was misjudged as incapable of fulfilling the vision I held."

Nomaan Ahmed Rony, another student from DU, insisted on more student-friendly working hours and environment. 

"I don't get enough time for studies after working for six hours in a private company. I also feel like I'm underpaid with respect to the time and effort I put in." 

He proposes that models of developed countries that have successfully created student-friendly work environments should be followed in Bangladesh.  

Bangladesh still has a long way to go to create a sustainable culture for working students and part-time working youths. Bangladesh must implement reforms across various sectors of society and office settings to achieve this objective. 

Revisiting current curricula, ensuring that academic schedules and routines are well-organized, increasing employment opportunities for students within their universities, creating more online employment opportunities, resolving traffic congestion issues, mitigating safety risks for women and vulnerable communities, and raising awareness at all levels of society, particularly among employers are a few good places to start.   

afieaibnat-2021414835@ir.du.ac.bd