Study Abroad: students suffer as banks reluctant to open files

Mohammad Omar Faruque, 27, a graduate of Jahangirnagar University, was hoping to pursue his master's in the United Kingdom. He received an offer from the University of Suffolk, in the Strategic People Management programme, to start in January 2023. Everything was set for him, but he faced one last obstacle: opening an account to deposit his fees. But he couldn't manage as every bank refused to open a profile for him.

The university has now advised him to defer to the year after. "I am losing a year from my life. Who will take the responsibility?" said Faruque, in frustration.

Like Faruque, many other students are having to suffer due to the dollar crisis the country's banks are facing.

In November this year, the then Bangladesh Bank spokesperson GM Abul Kalam Azad said, "This is a temporary problem, which will be resolved soon."

The Daily Star interviewed at least seven students, who are still waiting for the issue to come to an end.

Faruque had tried every possible way. He went to several branches of Premier, UCB, Prime, The City, Brac, HSBC and Dhaka Bank in the capital, but all his efforts were in vain. He tried to send £3,000 admission fee to the university through a Bangladeshi expat. But even that attempt failed, as the person who sends the money is required to bear a blood relation to the student.

Another student, Mashrafi Ahmed, 20, at the capital, also had already completed all the processes to pursue an honours programme in International Relations at Kodolanyi Janos University in Hungary. In November, he went to open a student file in Premier Bank at the Panthapath branch, but found no success.

"What can I do now," Mashrafi said, "I don't have anyone in Hungary who could pay the money in any alternative way."

Rifat Ahmed, 20, from the capital's Uttara area, who was prepared to start his university education in Canada this year, also couldn't pay the fees by the deadline, November 25. "The Mutual Trust Bank Limited informed me they wouldn't be able to pay the fee due to the dollar crisis," he said.

On the other hand, Nishit Jaman, 20, a student from Rajshahi's Bagha upazila, had already opened a student file at Brac Bank, as the bank promised that they would be able to pay the tuition fee through their branch.

But Brac Bank has not yet been able to provide the fee, though the clock is ticking. His deadline is end of December.

"I went through a long journey to get admitted to the university," said Nishit, who has been preparing for a Canadian university for the last two years.

"If it gets canceled, then it would be so frustrating for me, for my families," he added. He went to three other banks to open a new student profile, but those banks too responded in the negative, citing the current dollar crisis.

Previously, there was a rumour that Bangladesh Bank had directed commercial banks not to open student files. But the current spokesperson for the central bank, Md Mezbaul Haque, told The Daily Star, "We have not issued any such order. We only instructed them to operate on the basis of sufficient funds."

These banks, who cannot open new files, might be facing a fund crunch, he added.

Foyez Uddin Sarkar, a senior executive of Premier Bank's Elephant Road branch, said, "We are in trouble as we don't have enough funds due to the  ongoing dollar crisis."

Sarkar, however, hoped the situation would return to normal by January.

The bank are taking a conservative approach to opening profiles due to the dollar crunch, said Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and chief executive officer of MTB. While his bank would open 30-40 accounts a month, it has brought down the number to 5-6.

"We haven't stopped it entirely. We are opening the account on the basis of importance," he said. "For example, if a student wants to go to Oxford or Harvard,  he or she can definitely open the file."

Standard Chartered Bank is an exception in this regard.

Naser Ezaz Bijoy, chief executive officer of SCB, said, "We have not stopped processing student files. In fact, we have doubled the number compared to last year. We have set up dedicated desks to provide assistance to students and parents."

According to Bangladesh Bank, in the 2021-22 fiscal year, $414.50 million were sent abroad for education related services .

UNESCO's "Global Flow of Tertiary Students" report says a staggering 49,151 Bangladeshi students left the country for higher education in 2021.

"In the last fiscal year, the City Bank played a key role in opening student files. Although this is now a peak moment for admissions globally, we cannot help students properly right now," said a top official of the City Bank, requesting to be anonymous.

As such, students' futures remain bleak. For many they're on the edge of missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime.