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Published : 03 Jun 2026, 11:23 PM
The teachers of Ebtedayee madrasas will start “fasting unto death” from Sunday if the BNP government does not entitle them to the monthly pay order (MPO) by this week as promised by the interim administration.
Under the banner of the “Independent Ebtedayee Madrasa Teachers' Welfare Committee”, the protesters announced the decision while holding a sit-in programme outside the National Press Club on Wednesday.
They demand that the madrasas be brought under MPO coverage by Thursday.
The teachers have been holding the sit-in programme in front of the Press Club for 14 days, declaring the madrasas “closed indefinitely”.
Earlier in the day, they began marching towards the Secretariat but were obstructed by police.
However, a seven-member delegation of teachers went to the Secretariat to meet with Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon. But they failed again.
Subsequently, they resumed the sit-in demonstration when the organisation's Member Secretary Abdul Hannan Hossain announced the hunger strike.
He told bdnews24.com, "Our MPO registration applications have been accepted, verified and selected. Around 1,089 independent Ebtedayee madrasas have also received in-principle approval for MPO registration.
“But the Technical and Madrasah Education Division of the education ministry is not issuing administrative orders for MPO registration."
"Although the Finance Division wrote to the Technical and Madrasah Education Division in March requesting much information, including the administrative order to declare the MPO to allocate money for MPO enrollment, it did not issue an administrative order,” Hannan added.
He said they would start the hunger strike wearing shrouds if their demand remains pending even after Thursday.
Although all Alia madrasas are currently closed on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and summer vacations, they will reopen from Jun 14.
According to official estimates, there are 1,519 independent Ebtedayee madrasas in the country that are subsidised.
Additionally, another 5,932 independent Ebtedayee madrasas receive no government grants.
In the face of teachers' protests, the interim government announced the phased nationalisation of independent Ebtedayee madrasas in early 2025, starting by including them in the MPO scheme.
