A section of teachers of the non-government secondary level schools under the Monthly Payment Order scheme on Sunday called on the government for an immediate hike in benefits.
They also called for nationalisation of the educational institutions currently under the MPO system.
Issuing an ultimatum, they said at a press conference on the day that they would hold a rally in Dhaka city and announce new programmes, if their demands were not met by October 18.
Under the banner of Bangladesh Shikkhak Samity, the teachers organised the programme at the National Press Club in the capital.
Their demands are鈥攏ationalisation of the secondary level educational institutions under the MPO ending the discrimination between the government and non-government educational institutions; a 100 per cent festival allowance and house rent and medical allowances as per the government system; an upgrade of the non-government school head teachers鈥� salary to 6th grade from the existing 7th grade and assistant head teachers鈥� salary to 7th grade from the existing 8th grade with timescales and payment of all financial benefits to the teachers from the Non-Government Teachers and Employees鈥� Retirement Benefit Board and the Non-Government Teachers and Employees鈥� Welfare Trust within six months of their retirement.
The organisation鈥檚 leaders said that they had been raising these same demands since the previous Awami League-led regime, but the demands remained unmet till now.聽聽聽
While reading out from the keynote paper, Bangladesh Shikkhak Samity member secretary Md Rezaur Karim Liton said that till now the non-government secondary level schoolteachers got as little as Tk 1,000 for house rent, Tk 500 as medical allowance and 50 per cent of the basic as festival allowance.
鈥楾hese teachers and employees do not have any job security, nor do they have financial safety and social dignity,鈥� Rezaur said, adding that without nationalisation of the non-government secondary level schools, teaching quality would not improve.
Organisation convener Md Saidur Rahman Sarkar said that since independence, the education sector hardly saw any major changes, the lack of which deeply affected the sector.聽
Due to poor salary structure the teachers did not have dignity in the society while education is the backbone of a nation, he continued.
The convener also alleged long delays in receiving retirement benefits by the MPO teachers, saying that it took as long as three years to get the benefits聽 from the board, and for those under the MPO it might take even six years.聽
鈥楬ow much more neglect should the teachers endure?鈥� Saidur asked.
If the government remained indifferent to their demands by October 18, the teachers would hold a rally in front of the National Press Club and announce new programmes from there.
At the press conference, the organisation鈥檚 other leaders were present.
Earlier this year, the MPO teachers held a sit-in for 22 days in front of the National Press Club in the capital, starting from February 12.
Later in May, they observed work abstention in different districts.
According to the Bangladesh Education Statistics 2023 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, 6,25,322 teachers are working at 36,940 post primary level educational institutions across the country.
Among them, 3,96,368 teachers and 1,36,036 employees are MPO registered in 28,655 non-government post primary level educational institutions.
