Govt may delay pay hike by 6 months
Teachers and staffs on Monthly Pay Order (MPO) are unlikely to get increased salary from next month under the new national pay scale, as the government might delay the hike by six months to evaluate the performance of MPO-listed educational institutions, said finance ministry officials.
The Pay Commission and a review committee advised the government to measure the possible impact of the salary increase on next year's budget before implementing it, they said.
The secretary-level committee led by Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan recommended raising salary of teachers and staffs on the MPO from January next year in line with the Pay Commission's recommendations, said the officials.
The committee submitted its report to the finance minister last month after reviewing the commission's suggestions, and holding discussions with government high-ups.
Wishing anonymity, a finance ministry official said the government would see whether there would be any wastage of public money in paying increased salary and allowances or any new conditions can be imposed in line with the recommendations of the Pay Commission and the review body.
At the end of this month or early next month, the finance ministry would place a proposal before the cabinet for delaying the implementation of increased salary of teachers and staffs under the MPO, said the officials.
In his budget speech, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the new pay scale for government employees would come into effect on July 1.
At a post-budget briefing, he refrained from replying to queries on whether salary of teachers and staffs on the MPO would also be hiked from July this year.
“It is not possible to answer all questions all the time. I hope you will accept it,” he said.
According to the Pay Commission report, the total number of teachers under the MPO is 3,44,288.
The government expenditure on salary and allowances of staffs of MPO-listed educational institutions almost doubled in the last six years.
In fiscal 2009-10, the amount was Tk 3,285 crore, and it has gone up to Tk 5,677 crore in fiscal 2014-15.
According to an estimate by the Pay Commission, the government will need Tk 7,365 crore if salary of teachers and staffs on the MPO is hiked from next month.
The commission headed by Mohammed Farashuddin proposed imposing some conditions for raising salary of teachers and staffs in MPO-listed schools.
It said increased salary might be given on the basis of result-based evaluation, and on condition that these educational institutions deposit a portion of their incomes with the state exchequer.
A finance ministry official said these teachers and staffs get 100 percent of their basic salary from government grants. But the quality and pass rates at many educational institutions remain very poor.
At a pre-budget meeting last year, the finance minister said no new school would be included in the MPO in the future. He also proposed introducing a new system for paying salary and allowances of teachers and staffs of MPO-listed schools.
The education ministry was asked to prepare a new financial assistance scheme, which would be introduced in fiscal 2015-16, he said.
Various criteria, including the necessity of a school in a particular area, would be taken into consideration in preparing the scheme, said Muhith.
The qualification of teachers and the number of students of a school would determine the scope of assistance, he said.
"In North Bengal, some schools have only five teachers and ten students, and they have been included in the MPO list."
A large number of schools mushroomed. And they were included in the MPO list through lobbying from various influential quarters, he said.
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