Fraudulent 'tuition media'
Working as tutor is a vital source of income for many students. Students, who don't get notable financial support from their families, often depend on tutoring to get themselves through their student days. Some others, despite being well off, prefer it as a source of some extra income. In Dhaka and some other cities, many organisations are playing the role of mediators in providing such jobs to the people, largely students, who are interested in tuition. These organisations call themselves 'Tuition Media'. Nevertheless, how reliable are they?
In June 2007, my roommate decided to earn some extra money by tutoring during our summer vacation. We went to a renowned tuition media in Kakrail and met the head of the organisation. He demanded Tk. 200 as membership fee and said that one has to pay half the first month's salary in advance. My friend accepted all his terms and conditions and paid the membership fee. The director assured that he would get a tuition job with a salary of more than Tk. 5,000 (Five thousand) per month within one week and took another Tk 1,000 in advance. Since then, my friend has been going to that office almost every week but he still does not have the tuition job. When he demanded his money back in October, he was advised to contact them next year! Recently I found out that another friend of mine had paid the same amount of money to the same organisation and was cheated. He was given an address that turned out to be a fake one. I became sure of the fraudulent nature of the organisation by seeing their same advertisement in newspapers over and over again.
Now I wish to warn other students about such cheats in our society. I don't want others, like my friends, to fall victim to these fake businesses and I also request the authorities concerned to take necessary measures against these fraudulent 'media'.
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