Non-MPO teachers begin indefinite hunger strike

Teachers and employees of non-MPO educational institutions started an indefinite hunger strike yesterday, demanding enlistment of all private institutions under the government's Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme.

Under the banner of “Non-MPO Shikkhya Pratishthan Shikkhyak Karmachari Federation”, several hundred teachers began their prescheduled strike around 10:00am in front of Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka with taking an oath.

The leaders of the federation said they will continue their strike until the government brings all educational institutions, which have government approval, under MPO coverage.

“We will not leave the streets until our demand is met,” said Golam Mahmudunnabi, president of the federation.

The teachers started their agitation on June 10, pressing home their demand as there is no specific budget allocation for the 2018-2019 fiscal year on MPO, they said.

However, the budget documents showed that the education ministry would take steps to provide more schools with the benefit.

The finance ministry has set aside Tk 432 crore to bring in a maximum of 1,000 secondary schools under MPO scheme in the next fiscal year. It may take the second half of the next fiscal year to complete the procedures, said sources in the finance ministry.

The teachers, however, took to the streets demanding inclusion of all government-approved institutions in the MPO coverage.

On June 22, they submitted a memorandum to the president.

The MPO is government's share in the payroll of private educational institutions. The government pays 100 percent basic salaries and small monthly allowances to the teachers under the scheme.

An educational institution comes under the MPO scheme first and then the government includes the teachers of that institution in the payroll.

Over 5 lakh teachers and employees of around 27,000 secondary schools, colleges, madrasas and technical institutes are now receiving the MPO benefits.

According to leaders of the federation, there are 5,242 non-MPO educational institutions, where around 80,000 teachers work without any government pay.

The government allocated Tk 8,614 crore in the outgoing fiscal year for the MPO.

The allocation was Tk 8,593 crore in the previous year.

After a six-year suspension by the BNP-led government, the MPO benefit was revived by the Awami League-led government in 2010.

A total of 1,624 secondary and higher secondary private schools and colleges were included in the MPO at the time.

But no new school was brought under the programme in the last seven years.