Increase student monthly stipend: Campe

The Campaign for Popular Education (Campe) has demanded an increase in the monthly stipend for pre-primary level to higher secondary school students.

Campe made the demand on Monday in a press release signed by its Executive Director Rasheda K Chowdhury.

The minimum monthly stipend amount should be Tk250, and the government should allocate a special budget for female students, who are at high risk of dropout due to early marriage, reads the press release.

Campe also asked the government to undertake a combined education work plan to recover from pandemic learning losses and to bring education back on the right track. 

The other demands placed in the press release are: a special budget for infrastructure, learning materials, safety, safe water, and quality wash rooms, arrangements for blended learning, and for nationalization of education. 

At least 20 per cent of the national budget should be allocated for education to recover from recent learning losses, to ensure quality education, and to face future challenges, says the statement. 

"We have only eight years to achieve the SDGs. We will not be able to achieve the SDGs if we ignore education in the upcoming budget. We hope the government will increase the allocation in the next budget," it says.