I know a Sri Lankan student in Perth, Australia. We used to live in the same house for a while. His daily routine was a relentless race. From morning until night, he worked sometimes at a restaurant and sometimes for a cleaning company. In addition, he also delivered food for Uber. He often returned home after midnight. After sleeping for just a few hours, he would wake up again at 5:30 in the morning and head off to his restaurant job.
One day, he broke his hand while working. Unable to go to work for a few days, he was fired by his manager.
He came to Australia to pursue a two-year Master’s degree. The degree will cost him nearly 10 million Bangladeshi taka. His father is a doctor. His sister went to Belarus to study and is a medical student. Despite the family’s financial means, the struggle this young man has had to endure simply to survive while studying abroad reflects one of the harsh realities of life as an international student today.
The experiences of many Bangladeshi students are not very different. In almost every Australian city, a large number of Bangladeshi students have to support themselves through hard labour alongside their studies. When they have no close friends or relatives abroad, there is often no one readily available to stand by them or offer help in times of trouble. Although they may begin their journey with dreams of higher education, for many, the biggest question they ultimately face is: How can I survive?
Why do young people want to leave the country?
The decision to pursue higher education abroad is generally explained through two concepts: “push” and “pull” factors. Push factors are the circumstances that compel or encourage people to leave their home country. These include unemployment, economic hardship, limited opportunities for higher education and research, political and social instability, and uncertainty about future employment prospects.
Pull factors, on the other hand, are the attractions offered by destination countries. Advanced education systems, research opportunities, the prestige of international degrees, employment prospects, a higher standard of living, and relatively safe and stable environments draw students abroad.
However, the push-pull framework cannot fully explain the reality. The decision to go abroad is also shaped by an individual’s career plans, aspirations for a better life, dreams of academic excellence, and considerations of social status. An individual’s own capabilities and initiative are also important. The ability to achieve one’s goals through one’s own talent, qualifications, and decisions is referred to as “agency” in the social sciences, and the decision to pursue higher education abroad is also an expression of that agency.
According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, an individual’s development is not simply the result of personal capabilities. Family, educational institutions, the economy, culture, society, politics, and the national and international environment all influence an individual’s life. The decision to study abroad, therefore, is not merely a matter of personal choice. It is shaped not only by individual dreams and aspirations but also by the realities of a country’s education system, economy, politics, and the global system.
The reality of shattered dreams at home
For many young people in Bangladesh today, the shattering of dreams has become an everyday experience. Although many institutions have been established under the banner of universities, not all of them have been able to ensure an environment genuinely conducive to higher education. Unplanned expansion, shortages of teachers, irregularities, and inadequate infrastructure have kept many educational institutions from providing an effective higher-education environment.
In many places, there are not enough classrooms, quality research laboratories, well-equipped libraries, or adequate access to computers and other technological facilities. Teacher shortages are widespread, while opportunities for research remain extremely limited. As a result, although the number of institutions has increased, the quality and environment of education have not improved proportionately.
Talented students are bearing the consequences. Many spend crucial years of their lives in frustration because of session backlogs, delays, and mismanagement. Even after completing their studies, they face uncertainty about employment. There is no guarantee that they will find jobs commensurate with their talent and qualifications.
When a country’s young people remain uncertain about their futures year after year, going abroad naturally begins to emerge as a symbol of an alternative future. Yet behind this desire to leave is not merely a dream of a better life; it is also the lack of opportunities at home and the repeated experience of having those dreams shattered.
The international education market
Domestic political and economic instability makes young people anxious about their future. Policymakers in Europe, North America, and Australia are not unaware of this reality either. International students are not merely participants in education; they are an important part of the universities and economies of many countries.
Many universities in developed countries earn substantial revenues from the high tuition fees paid by international students. At the same time, some international students eventually become part of those countries’ skilled workforces. In other words, international education is intertwined not only with education but also with the economy, labour market, immigration policy, and the long-term strategies of states.
When the need arises, markets are opened to international students. Admission rules and opportunities are made more accessible to attract students from different countries. But when economic or political circumstances change, policies can also change rapidly. Tuition fees may then be increased, English-language proficiency requirements tightened, and new restrictions imposed on age limits and gaps in education. Citizens of developing or politically unstable countries may face greater visa risks. They may be required to demonstrate substantial financial resources
Restrictions may also be placed on their choice of academic subjects.
As a result, students often find themselves confronting a system in which they are welcomed when they are needed, but become the first to bear the consequences when policies change.
When studying becomes secondary to survival
Once they arrive abroad, another battle begins. When someone leaves Bangladesh with the dream of pursuing higher education overseas, studying should naturally be their primary responsibility. But for many students, the reality is entirely different.
To cover expensive tuition fees and living costs, they have to take on multiple jobs alongside their studies. Some work in restaurants, others for cleaning companies, while some work in ride-sharing or delivery services. A large part of the week is spent struggling to earn enough money to get by.
As a result, their social lives become increasingly limited. Adequate sleep, a balanced and healthy diet, physical exercise, and mental well-being all become luxuries for many. Even affording safe and comfortable accommodation becomes difficult. For many students who go abroad to study, the struggle to survive becomes so intense that their education takes a back seat.
Of course, those with greater financial means, or those who go abroad on full scholarships, face comparatively fewer difficulties. Even they, however, must constantly meet new targets, prove their capabilities, and survive in an intensely competitive environment.
The pain of not belonging
Even when foreign societies do not openly discriminate against international students, they often find it difficult to become a genuine part of those societies. Their lives can become conditional, uncertain, and temporary. Where is their permanent home, in their own country or in the country where they are studying? There is often no easy answer.
The sense of belonging, the sense of being part of a society, often becomes uncertain in the lives of international students. Will they still have a visa after completing their studies? Will they find a job? Will they have an opportunity to settle permanently? These questions constantly weigh on them.
Adding to this are anti-immigration political debates and xenophobia. Political pressure surrounding immigration and international students is growing in various countries across Europe, North America, and Australia. As a result, universities and governments are tightening their policies toward international students. Visa rejection rates are rising, and new restrictions are being imposed.
The irony is that these very international students form an important part of the financial foundation of many universities. Later, many of them also become part of those countries’ skilled workforces. Yet they are the ones who have to bear the first impact when policies change.
Is our education system able to provide opportunities for higher education that match their talents and interests? Are our universities capable of creating genuine research environments?
The agency trap and the deception business
The intense desire to leave Bangladesh has also given rise to a particular kind of business at home. Some unscrupulous agencies exploit students’ dreams of studying abroad. They make various promises regarding university admission, employment, visas, and an easy life overseas.
At times, they even arrange fake or fabricated bank statements, procure certificates of English-language proficiency, or make unrealistic promises of employment abroad. But when visas are ultimately rejected, it is the students who suffer the greatest losses.
Taking into account application fees, university fees, agency charges, medical examinations, documentation, English-language tests, and other expenses, a student can lose several hundred thousand taka. Added to the financial loss are emotional distress and uncertainty about their future plans.
Where does the solution lie?
The central question, therefore, is not simply why young people in Bangladesh want to go abroad. The question is: What is there for them if they want to stay?
Is our education system able to provide opportunities for higher education that match their talents and interests? Are our universities capable of creating genuine research environments? Can the employment market provide educated young people with jobs commensurate with their qualifications? Are talent and hard work being fairly rewarded?
Until these questions are answered, the desire to go abroad will not diminish. Rather, the greater the crises within the country, the stronger the attraction of opportunities abroad will become.
But foreign countries are not a paradise of dreams either. The international education market is now part of a complex push-pull system. On the one hand, the failures of countries like Bangladesh are pushing young people outward. On the other hand, developed countries are pulling them in according to the needs of their education systems and labour markets. But whenever policies change, those same young people are subjected to new conditions and fresh uncertainties.
Our young people are the greatest victims of this two-sided reality. Some are overwhelmed by frustration; some lose confidence; some become trapped in jobs far below their qualifications. Others may even experience such profound psychological distress that they consider taking their own lives.
Did we really intend to push our country’s brightest and most ambitious young people toward a future in which they have no opportunity to fulfill their dreams at home, while trying to fulfill those dreams abroad turns their lives into an endless struggle?
The questions will continue to multiply. But if we fail to find answers, the greatest loss will be borne by the country. Because when a nation’s young people lose their dreams, it is not only the lives of a few individuals that fail; the future potential of the entire society is diminished.
* Habib Rahman, Doctoral Researcher, Curtin University, Australia
* This article appeared in Prothom Alo Online and has been translated by Ayesha Kabir for Prothom Alo English Online