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The education ministry has proposed increasing the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and staff to Tk 2,000–3,000, following the rejection of the government’s previous decision to raise the amount to Tk 1,500.
The proposal also includes raising the medical allowance to Tk 1,000 and increasing the festival bonus for staff to 75 per cent of their basic salary, reports bdnews24.com.
On Sept 30, the Finance Division issued an order raising the rent allowance from Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500. However, teachers rejected the move and announced a continuous sit-in protest outside the National Press Club from Oct 12, demanding that house rent be set at 20 per cent of their basic salary.
The ministry’s spokesperson Khalid Mahmud told bdnews24.com on Monday that a new proposal had been sent to the Finance Division to raise the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and staff to at least Tk 2,000 or Tk 3,000.
The proposal also suggested increasing the medical allowance from Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 and providing staff with a festival bonus equivalent to 75 per cent of their basic salary.
Currently, teachers and staff at private MPO-listed educational institutions receive the basic portion of their salary and several allowances from the government. They receive a medical allowance of Tk 500 per month alongside their basic wage, and the house rent allowance was recently raised from Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500.
Previously, MPO teachers received 25 per cent of their basic salary as a yearly bonus, but after a recent revision in May, they now receive 50 per cent of their basic salary as an annual festival allowance. Also, they are entitled to a 20 per cent basic salary allowance once a year for the Bengali New Year.
According to the ministry, the government currently spends approximately Tk 391.3 million monthly on house rent for school and college teachers under the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) at the Tk 1,000 rate, which amounts annually to Tk 4.69 billion.
If the house rent is increased to the 20 per cent rate (with a minimum of Tk 3,000), the monthly expenditure for DSHE-affiliated institutions would rise to about Tk 1.96 billion, resulting in an annual cost of Tk 23.51 billion.
Similarly, fixing the house rent at the 20 per cent rate for institutions under the Directorate of Madrasha Education would result in an annual government expenditure of about Tk 11.23 billion.
For institutions under the Directorate of Technical Education, the annual house rent expenditure would increase from Tk 276.9 million to around Tk 1.41 billion.
The Secondary and Higher Education Division also proposed three alternative house rent rates: 15 per cent of basic salary or a minimum of Tk 2,000, 10 per cent of basic salary or a minimum of Tk 2,000 and 5.0 per cent of basic salary or a minimum of Tk 2,000.
The proposal notes that the current medical allowance of Tk 500 is insufficient in reality, justifying the proposal to raise it to Tk 1,000.
While there is a proposal to increase the staff's festival bonus from 50 per cent to 75 per cent, no corresponding increase has been proposed for teachers.