Teachers pursue hunger strike, 6 fall sick

Six teachers have fallen sick and hospitalised while pursuing a hunger strike over demands of immediate enlistment under the government’s Monthly Pay Order scheme.

They fell sick this morning as over a hundred teachers took position near Jatiya Press Club on the seventh day of their demonstration and second day of hunger strike.

Wielding a banner of “Non-MPO Shikhya Pratishthan Shikhyak Karmachari Federation”, the teachers say they will not move unless their demands are met by the government.

Golam Mahmudunnabi, president of the federation, told The Daily Star the teachers have been taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital this morning and are under treatment there.

With the prospects of schools reopening drawing nearer, he said: “the teachers will not move from their demonstration unless the government fulfils their demand.”

MPO is the government's share in the payroll of the non-government educational institutions. Under the scheme, the government gives 100 percent basic salaries to the teachers of non-government schools. The teachers also get a lump sum amount as other allowances through the MPO.

According to the teachers, the number of non-MPO educational institutions is 5,242, where around 80,000 teachers are working without any pay, some for more than a decade.