MPO policy of 2018 discriminatory
Say teachers, staff of non-govt institutions
Staff Reporter, Dhaka
Just when the government is almost ready to announce the monthly pay order (MPO) facilities for non-government educational institutions following the MPO Policy 2018, teachers and employees of these institutions have termed the policy discriminatory.
They claimed they had urged the ministry several times to make changes during the formulation of the discriminatory policy. They said that many of the educational institutions would be deprived of the MPO facilities due to the policy. They also said the government should not implement the policy. Non-government educational institutions should be brought under under the MPO facilities based on their academic recognition, they added.
With these demands, hundreds of teachers and employees of non-government educational institutions from across the country gathered in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Monday. They were protesting under the banner of Non-MPO Shikkha Protishthan Shikkhak Karmachari Federation.
Leaders of the federation said they have taken the step just before announcement of the MPO facilities because the government is doing it without listening t\o their just demands. They said they have approached the education ministry to make changes in the MPO policy but did not get any redress.
They now want to meet the Prime Minister to state their demands before announcement of the MPO facilities for non-government educational institutions. The leaders of the federation said they might march towards the Prime Ministers Office on Thursday. They also the policy discriminates between rural and urban educational institutions and many of its provisions are not clear to them.
As per the policy, there should be at least 150 students in each of Class VI to Class VIII, but the policy does not say anything about the number of examinees and results of these classes. They asked how the standard would be applied here for the MPO. As per appendix Ka, there should be 300 students in an educational institution from Class VI to Class X and the number should be 200 in rural areas.
For a girls school, the minimum number of students should be 200 in urban areas and 100 in rural areas, but the examinees should be 40 for both urban and rural areas, which is discriminatory, they said.
They said when the applications were sought from the institutions, the national pass percentage was below 70. But the policy says the pass rate has to be 75 per cent. This is difficult for many institutions, especially in haors (wetlands) and coastal areas.
The federations general secretary, principal Binoy Bhushan Roy, told The Independent yesterday (Wednesday): If the government goes ahead and announces the MPO facilities, many of the non-government educational institutions will be affected. We request the government not to announce the MPO list for educational institutions based on such an inconsistent policy. Otherwise, many educational institutions would be deprived of these facilities.
He also said many of the educational institutions were established five to 18 years before the policy was formulated and obtained the governments recognition.
We want the government to follow the recognition of the institutions as the standard for the MPO facilities. We want to stop the MPO Policy 2018. We want to meet the Prime Minister to apprise her of our demand and point out the inconsistencies in the policy, he said.
