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Published : 21 Oct 2025, 01:22 PM
The government has once again hiked the house rent allowance for teachers and employees at educational institutions under the monthly pay order (MPO) scheme in the face of protests.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Finance announced that it had agreed to raise the housing allowance to 7.5 percent of basic salary or a minimum of Tk 2,000 from November and again to 15 percent of basic salary or a minimum of Tk 2,000 from July, 2026.
An order to the effect had been issued by the ministry’s Finance Division.
Teachers and employees have been protesting since Oct 12 under the banner of the “Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO-Listed Educational Institutions”, which represents employees at MPO-listed institutions, demanding their housing allowance be increased to 20 percent of their basic salary, their medical allowance be raised from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, and for festival allowance to be hiked from 50 percent to 75 percent of the basic salary.
On Oct 17, they also added a demand for the nationalisation of all private educational institutions.
The protesting teachers and employees are also staging a sit-in demonstration at the Central Shaheed Minar since the morning to voice their demands. Some of them are also conducting a “hunger strike until death” programme. Four of those on hunger strike have already fallen ill.
Protest leader Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the "Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO-Listed Educational Institutions", said discussions were under way with government representatives over their demands.
“The education ministry wants to sit with us for talks. We will go to the Secretariat for discussions. Depending on what the government proposes, we will consult with teachers and employees to decide on the next step,” he said.
“We are hopeful that the issue will move toward a quick solution.”
Leaders of various political parties, including the National Citizen Party (NCP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, and cultural group Inquilab Mancha have already expressed solidarity with the demands of the MPO-affiliated teachers and employees. The Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU), Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU), students of Dhaka University, Jagannath University, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), as well as various teachers’ organisations have also expressed support for the demands of the teachers and employees.
HOW MUCH DID THE GOVT RAISE ALLOWANCES PREVIOUSLY?
The government initially raised the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and employees by Tk 500 on Sept 30, but teachers rejected the increase and called for protests after the announcement was made public on Oct 5.
On Oct 6, the education ministry proposed to the Finance Division that the house rent allowance be increased to at least Tk 2,000 or Tk 3,000. Teachers and employees began their continuous sit-in from Oct 12.
In the face of the protest movement, the government increased the housing allowance of teachers and employees of MPO-listed educational institutions to 5 percent of the basic salary, or a minimum of Tk 2,000, on Sunday. However, the teachers and employees have refused to budge from their demand of a 20 percent housing allowance.
MPO-listed teachers and staff receive salaries under the national pay scale. Along with their basic salary, they currently receive Tk 500 per month as a medical allowance. Previously, they received Tk 1,000 as a house rent allowance, which was increased and has now been set at 5 percent of the basic salary or a minimum of Tk 2,000.
Earlier, MPO-listed teachers received two annual festival allowances each at 25 percent of basic salary. Following an increase in May, they now receive festival allowances amounting to 50 percent of their basic pay.
On Monday, the 10th day of the protests, the government has decided to increase the housing allowance once again.
