Thousands of female students, studying at the institutions of higher education in outlying cities across the country, are facing an acute accommodation crisis due to inadequacy of dormitories.
They have to live in groups in rented private flats and houses where security is often poor and they have to pay more money.
Thousands of female students face the same problem in the capital city. New Age would run a separate story in the capital city’s accommodation problem for the city later.
Male students also face similar problems, but there is particular concern about the vulnerability of the female students living in insecure private accommodations.
The major education institutions say that they have the land but not enough funds to build the dormitories required.
In the city of Rajshahi, five large educational institutions provide dormitories to house 16 per cent of female students. Only Rajshahi Medical College and the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology provide hostel accommodation to all the female students.
Rajshahi University offers only 2,630 dormitory seats for its 12,000 female students.
Rajshahi College has 420 hostel seats for its 11,000 female students while New Government Degree College has 80 hostel seats for its 2,000 female students.
Chittagong’s 12 higher education institutions together have only eight hostels to accommodate 2,616 out of 24,000 female students, or just over one in ten.
Chittagong Government College hostel accommodates 108 out of its 7,000 female students.
The Principal, Shaker Dastogir, said, ‘We have not been able to increase the number of hostel seats despite repeated requests from the guardians.’
Haji Mohammed Mohsin College and Government Commerce College in Chittagong have no dormitories for their 4,500 female students.
In Barisal and Sylhet the situation is even worse.
In Sylhet, educational institutions only have hostel space for eight per cent of female students.
And the hostels of four government colleges in Barisal city can accommodate only one in every 15 female students that is 902 out of 13,000 female students get the seats.
In Noakhali, Sonapur University College, Maijdee Public College, Noakhali University of Science and Technology and Chaumuhani SA Colleges have no dormitories for women at all
Female students, who do not get seats in the university halls, live in ‘messes’ at rented houses outside the campuses – and face many difficulties due to lack of water, transport and security – besides disturbance from local male stalkers.
Sharmin Akter and Laila Zaman, two students of Chittagong Government College told New Age that they have to bear with several problems such as low quality food and unavailability of water.
As a result, a common problem the female students face is that they are virtually left with no money after paying much higher rents for private accommodation.
‘Only a small amount of money is left in our hands after paying the house rent, food charge, tuition fees and the fare for transportation between the campus and residence,’ said Rumi a student of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
‘And often we fail to catch the university buses which are fewer than required,’ she said. She said that it was a big problem for the female students having to live in rented private accommodation at a distance from the campus.
Parents told New Age that they were particularly worried about the daughters studying at Noakhali University College as they have to live in privately rented messes.
In Chittagong, 750 female students live at 15 privately rented messes, most of them situated at Chawkbazaar near Chittagong College under Panchlaish police station.
Another 200 female students are staying at Karmajeebi Mahila Hostel for working women run by the government at Chandgaon Mor under Chandgaon police station in the city.
In Barisal, 1,050 female students are staying in 15 privately rented hostels and at the Karmajeebi Mahila Hostel for working women.
And in Sylhet, most female students live in rented houses located at Tilagar, Sonarpara, Shibganj, Lamabazaar, Madina Market and Akhalia.
