Why MPO policy hardly reduces discrimination among teachers
Despite the MPO scheme aiming to reduce disparities, MPO-listed teachers continue to get significantly less pay and benefits, including lower starting grades on the national pay scale
In Bangladesh, the education system is starkly divided among government, MPO-listed and non-MPO private institutions, each with significant implications for teachers' pay and conditions.
While the country ranks among the lowest in Asia in government salaries for secondary school teachers, MPO-listed and private teachers are paid even less.
The Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme, in particular, is aimed at reducing disparities but its implementation has created an unexpected identity crisis among enlisted teachers.
Scratching the 'discrimination' surface
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Currently, there are nearly 30,000 MPO-listed schools, colleges, madrasahs and technical educational institutions, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS). On the other hand, 4,613 educational institutions across the country are not included under the MPO scheme.
For the uninitiated, MPO is the government's share in the payroll of non-government educational institutions. Three conditions are set for MPO enlistment— the number of students, the number of examinees, and the passing rate in public exams. Under the scheme, the government completely provides the basic salaries to the teachers of non-government institutions.
Sounds good, right? But there's a catch — "the basic salaries."
The scheme does not cover all other incentives that a government teacher receives. There is another loophole. These teachers join at the 11th grade level of the national pay scale, while government teachers join at the 10th grade level. So, the discrimination ultimately remains.
The monthly basic salary of a MPO-listed private assistant teacher is Tk12,500, and that of a government teacher is Tk16,000. Additionally, government teachers receive a house rent allowance equal to 45-50% of their basic salary, while MPO teachers receive only Tk1,000.
As festival bonuses, government teachers receive 100% and private teachers receive only 25% of their basic salary. Government teachers also receive three times more medical allowances than private teachers.
"In certain cases, a secondary school teacher earns less than even a primary school teacher. It's a bizarre situation," said Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Professor Emeritus at BRAC University.
Even if one survives all the years and retires, there will be discrimination, this time with his pension. Unlike government teachers, MPO teachers had no pension benefits all these years and decades. They receive a small, one-time retirement allowance, but there is no provision for a monthly amount.
To provide retirement benefits, a portion of the monthly salary is deducted and allocated to the Retirement Benefit Board and Welfare Trust Fund. So it's kind of their own savings. But it often takes years to receive that money.
The said institutions often send them back home empty-handed repeatedly, due to their fund crisis. However, this year's budget introduced a new policy for pensions which will be discussed later here.
On a different note, the national pay scale 2015 is still effective. Ironically, the inflation rate has been standing above 9% for more than two years while it was 6.4% in June 2015.
Government employees, pensioners, and MPO-listed teachers receive a 5% yearly increment. But it is not enough to fight the mighty inflation rate. Since the last fiscal year, they get an additional 5% incentive on their basic salary to adjust with the inflation rate. Now it exacerbated the discrimination against non-MPO private teachers.
Addressing a transfer policy is yet another demand the private school teachers are raising regularly. A ray of hope is that the High Court recently directed the authorities concerned to formulate a transfer policy for teachers of MPO-listed private educational institutions.
However, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury made a pessimistic statement in a press briefing a few days ago regarding it. He said that the government does not hold the authority to transfer them. Moreover, a transfer policy might make things complicated, as remote areas would not attract qualified teachers.
Notably, the Non-Government Teachers' Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) conducts a test to nominate teachers, and private schools independently recruit them.
All these discriminations fuel regular protests from teachers seeking equal benefits and education nationalisation.
"Our salary scale should start from at least the 10th grade with a basic salary of TK16,000. Then, we can maintain a minimum standard of living," said Md. Shah Alam, President of the central committee of the Bangladesh MPO-listed Teachers' Council.
"Our council was established in 2020 with a view to uniting all the sufferers at one place and raise our voice. We are definitely not against the government by any means, we just demand our right and dignity as teachers," he added.
What does the FY 2024-25 budget address?
The new budget for FY 2024-25 makes a hopeful statement that monthly salaries, retirement benefits and welfare grants of MPO-listed teachers and employees will be disbursed via EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer). They will receive their salaries and allowances directly into their bank accounts through EFT on the first working day, which will reduce their suffering to a great extent.
Moreover, in the budget, the government declares initiative to include teachers and staff of MPO-listed private educational institutions in the universal pension scheme. It is made mandatory for government employees. Although this scheme is complex and controversial so far, it raises the question of whether it might offer a fair and equitable solution for pensions, at least.
In the FY 2024-25, only Tk250 crore has been allocated for enlisting new educational institutions under the MPO scheme. Of this, Tk200 crore is allocated for the Secondary and Higher Education Division, and Tk50 crore is allocated for the Technical and Madrasah Education Division.
This allocation will allow only a very limited number of educational institutions to be brought under the MPO scheme. Despite the allocation, the implementation will further depend on the decision of the Ministry of Education.
In the new budget, the government has allocated Tk83,500 crore for the salaries and allowances of government employees. However, it does not declare any plan to introduce a new national pay scale, nor to review the incentives of the MPO-listed teachers.
The entire system has to be restructured to ensure equity for all teachers. While this is challenging for the government, it is certainly possible. To ensure quality education across the country, we need qualified teachers. But amid all this chaos, why would someone choose to be a teacher?
"We need to rethink how to attract talented individuals to the teaching profession. To do that, we must ensure their dignity, salaries, and allowances," suggested Dr Manzoor Ahmed.
