Educational Institutions: 3,000 more likely to get MPO benefit

The government is likely to provide MPO benefits to 3,000 educational institutions, about 1,000 more than it had initially planned for the coming fiscal year.

The government allocated Tk 1,150 crore to bring 2,000 institutions under the monthly pay order scheme, in which no institution was included for nine years.

Despite the rise in the number of institutions, there will be no change in the allocation.

Basic salaries and other benefits will be given to the employees of newly included educational institutions in phases, finance ministry officials said.

“A number of schools, colleges and madrasas have been queueing for the MPO since 2010… We are increasing [the number of institutions] to 3,000 because of the pressure from teachers,” a ministry official said, wishing anonymity.

About 2,500 of the institutions are schools and colleges while the rest are madrasas, technical and vocational training institutions, he said.

Several thousand teachers and employees took to the streets multiple times demanding the MPO scheme in the last several years.

In 2018-19, the government had set aside Tk 500 crore for new MPOs, but the fund was not used because of the election and other issues, officials said.

The MPO is the government’s share in the payroll of non-government educational institutions. Teachers of institutions under the scheme get their basic pay and several monthly allowances from public fund.

Currently, over 4 lakh teachers and other employees of 26,340 secondary schools, colleges, madrasas and technical institutes enjoy the benefit.

The BNP government had suspended the scheme in its 2001-06 tenure.

In 2010, the Awami League government had reinstated it, bringing 1,624 additional institutions under the scheme. But no new institution got the benefit since then.

Many lawmakers raised the demand in parliament to provide the benefits to more institutions.

There are 5,242 non-MPO educational institutions where around 80,000 teachers are working without pay, some for over a decade, according non-MPO Shikhya Pratishthan Shikhyak Karmachari Federation.

Many of them earn their living by private tuition or other part-time work.

The government initiated the process of making lists of eligible institutions last year.