MPO to come with conditions, says Finance Minister Muhith

New educational institutions will be brought under the government’s MPO coverage but with some conditions, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 Jan 2018, 10:44 AM
Updated : 14 Jan 2018, 10:46 AM

Several hundred teachers from across the country went on hunger strike on Dec 26 to demand that state-sanctioned institutions be brought under the monthly pay order or MPO.

Terming the MPO a “bad policy” while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday, Muhith said the system must be reformed.

Asked about the conditions, he said a portion of the fund would be allotted for renovations and purchase of necessary materials. 

“A meeting will be held this month to discuss MPO inclusion,” Muhith said.

The minister said the education ministry never took any step to reform the system and it was him who drafted the national education policy.

“They just finalised it after some modifications.”

The government enlisted 624 educations institutions under its Monthly Payment Order in 2010. The process has since been on hold.

“We have put it on hold because it is beneficial only to the teachers. I will attach some conditions first so that the whole system can be managed,” said Muhith.

He came down hard on the institutions where classes of different grades are held in a room at a time. He cited an example of five teachers teaching students from as many classes in a single room.

It is important to make sure that students of different grades get separate classes even if they will have to sit “under trees”, he said.

The government is nationalising the schools in phases, Muhith said.