MPO teachers take to the streets, demanding a 45% house rent allowance

Teachers of MPO-enlisted schools, colleges, madrasas, and technical institutions today staged a massive demonstration in front of the Jatiya Press Club over several demands, including a 45 percent house rent allowance.

Witnesses said thousands of teachers from across the country began arriving in Dhaka since yesterday to join the programme titled "Teachers' Rally and March Towards Secretariat".

Participants started gathering at the press club around 9:00am today and within an hour, the area was packed with several thousand teachers, blocking one side of the busy road.

Many vehicles had to be diverted to alternative routes.

Photo: Amran Hossain

Mizanur Rahman, a madrasa teacher from Cumilla, said, "We work as hard as teachers in government institutions, but we face discrimination. We get only Tk 1,000 as house rent, while government teachers get a 45 percent of their basic salary.

"Is it possible to rent a house with Tk 1,000 nowadays? We came to Dhaka to realise our logical demands," he told The Daily Star.

Their other demands include medical and entertainment allowances equivalent to those of government employees, as well as the nationalisation of their jobs.

Security was tightened in and around the rally venue and the Secretariat area ahead of the programme, police sources said.