Case study 6

在IFPRI的工作前進得緩慢，部分是因為老闆太隨性，部分是因為我對發展經濟議題實在不熟悉，國際觀原本就很差的我，背景知識幾乎零基礎，分析方法也是從頭學起。第一個被分配到的project是Bangladesh（孟加拉），一個我實在不是很熟，只知道他在印度隔壁的國家。

這陣子慢慢的在看各種相關文獻，其一就是過往的教育補貼政策。在孟加拉的貧困地區，小學生入學（或是完成小學學歷）的比率不高，因此政府和其它組織便補貼現金或食物給窮困的家庭，條件是他們要送學齡兒童去上小學，並且到課率高於八成。看似簡單的政策，實行起來，很多部分仍被批評。該領錢的窮苦家庭不一定可以領得到。就算領到，補貼的金額也無法完全支付上學的其他雜費。

在相關的評估報告裡有許多case study，成功和失敗的案例都有，有些讓人感動，有些則心疼，好多都曲折的可以拿去當電影題材了。雖然完全可以省略這部分的文獻（這些case study實在跟我之後要做的工作無直接相關呀...），但看著看著，總覺得慢慢的離那裡又進了一些。

這是其中一個短短的case 6，幾乎是所有案例裡篇幅最短的，簡簡單單的平鋪直述。


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Case Study 6 — Halima had to stop her schooling and get married at the age of 13

Halima is a 13-year-old who just got married. She comes from an ultrapoor family. Her father, Mohammad Ali, is a tricycle van puller. He earns Tk 40–50* per day, and five members of his family depend on this meager income.

Halima was enrolled in class 6 in 2002. She received two installments of stipend money while she was studying. But now she does not go to school because she has gotten married, and therefore her stipend was stopped. “Tk 150* after six months was not enough to bear my daughter’s educational expenses. So I took her out of school and arranged her marriage,” said Halima’s father. “If my daughter got more education, then I would have to pay more money as dowry for her marriage. This is so because she would not agree to marry an uneducated man, and an educated man would ask for more dowry, which I don’t have. So I thought that it was better to get her married at a young age and with less education in order to pay less for dowry.”

    -Ahmed (2004).

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*註：1 Taka孟加拉幣約等於美金1 cent。 Tk50約等於台幣20元，Tk150=台幣60元

我在想，當時訪問者聽完她爸爸的回應，是否也沉默了呢？這是一個沒有什麼對與錯的世界，我每天上班時，眨也不眨眼的經過穿著迷彩服流浪老漢的帳篷，然後在電腦前面為2004年的Halima傷心。