Education Adviser Professor Dr CR Abrar has said clearly that the interim government will not be able to nationalise the thousands of private educational institutions currently operating under the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme.
He made the remarks during a meeting with leaders of the MPO Education Nationalisation Alliance at the ministry on Wednesday, August 13, afternoon.
An official from the Ministry of Education and several teacher leaders present at the meeting confirmed the Adviser’s comments.
According to them, Dr Abrar said: “The interim government cannot take on the nationalisation of so many educational institutions. It is an extremely complex and challenging issue – beyond our capacity. Only an elected political government can undertake such a massive reform.”
However, he assured that the interim administration is willing to address other key demands of MPO teachers.
“We can work on issues like house rent, medical allowance, and other benefits,” he said. “But if everything is demanded at once, it will not be feasible. These changes must be implemented step by step. We are committed to resolving the problems of teachers gradually and responsibly.”
During the meeting, teachers pressed for universal transfer rights, revised house rent, and increased medical allowances.
In response, a nine-member committee was immediately formed to verify and assess the issue of universal transfers.
The Adviser directed officials to forward the proposal to increase house rent and medical allowance to the Ministry of Finance for approval.
Currently, MPO-affiliated teachers receive Tk 1,000 per month as house rent and Tk 500 as medical allowance. The proposed increase would raise both to Tk 2,000 and Tk 1,000 respectively.
But many teachers remain dissatisfied. They argue that government employees in Dhaka Metropolitan Area receive 50-65% of their basic salary as house rent, 40-60% in district towns, and 35-55% elsewhere. MPO teachers are demanding similar percentage-based calculations, not flat-rate allowances.
Earlier on Wednesday, thousands of MPO teachers from all 64 districts gathered for a grand rally in front of the National Press Club, starting at 10:00 am. The demonstration brought traffic to a standstill along major routes from Purana Paltan to the High Court and Shahbagh.
The rally was initially set to march to the Secretariat around 2:00 pm, but the plan was called off after the Ministry of Education agreed to talks.
Following the “positive and fruitful” meeting with the Education Adviser, the teachers announced the end of the rally at around 3:00 pm and began returning to their home districts.
According to the 2023 report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), there are currently 26,447 MPO-affiliated institutions in the country, employing approximately 380,000 teachers and 177,000 non-teaching staff.
The MPO scheme is a government initiative to financially support educators in private educational institutions by paying their salaries and partial benefits, yet disparities between government and MPO teachers remain a key issue that is being addressed over time through policy adjustments and advocacy.