Here comes good news for teachers of non-MPO educational institutions after nine years.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday in parliament announced that the government was going to allocate funds from July 1 to bring new private secondary educational institutions under its Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme after around a nine-year suspension.

In his closing speech on the proposed budget for fiscal 2018-19, Muhith said, “After suspending for nine years, allocation is being made in the enlistment of MPO sector from next July 1."

His announcement came at a time when a section of teachers and employees of non-MPO educational institutions is on an indefinite hunger strike in front of the Jatiya Press Club since Tuesday demanding enlistment of all private educational institutions under the MPO coverage.

Although the number of institutions to be included in the coverage is yet to be finalised, finance ministry sources said the ministry set aside Tk 432 crore to include a maximum of 1,000 secondary institutions in the MPO scheme.

Muhith, however, yesterday hinted that there would be some changes in the existing MPO system.

“In order to bring changes in the MPO system, there will be some allocations in every region [in the country],” he said, adding that some additional allocations had also been made for repairing dilapidated educational institutions and building new classrooms.

The finance minister has always been very critical about the MPO system and time and again stressed on reforms of the MPO policy.

“I have been trying to recast the MPO system for the last 10 years ... but my efforts did not see any success. The education ministry thinks it is a safe arrangement [the way the MPO enlistment is being done] for them,” Muhith said at a pre-budget discussion on May 9.

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 teachers' platform, 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.

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

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 nine years.