The Teachers-Employees Job Nationalisation Alliance and the Retired Teachers and Employees Coordination Forum on Wednesday announced a series of programmes to press home a 10-point demand, including job nationalisation of MPO-enlisted non-government teachers and employees as well as their inclusion in the 9th national pay scale.
The announcement was made at a press conference held at the National Press Club in the city.
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Leaders of the organisations said if the demands are not met by August 31, they would launch a series of programmes, including divisional rallies in September and October, and formation of Struggle Committee to wage a greater movement.
The 10 demands include payment of salaries to MPO-enlisted teachers and employees in accordance with existing rules and regulations; nationalisation of their jobs to eliminate discrimination; introduction of a speedy transfer system; payment of 100 percent festival allowances and house rent in line with government rules; and replacement of the Non-Government Teachers' Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) with PSC-2 for teacher recruitment.
Other demands include; bringing all recognised educational institutions under the MPO scheme; raising the retirement age to 65; and ensuring leave for night guards in accordance with existing rules and arranging for the appointment of a second night guard.
Jasim Uddin Ahmed, chief adviser to the Retired Teachers and Employees Coordination Forum, alleged that the Education Ministry and the Welfare and Retirement Benefits Board were going to provide Tk 2.5 lakh and Tk 5 lakh as one-time payments to each 44,000 applicants from the Welfare Trust and the Retirement Benefits Board respectively on August 15 in violation of existing rules.
But in the past, teachers and employees were entitled to receive an amount equivalent to 25 months of their last salary from the Welfare Trust and 75 months of their last salary from the Retirement Benefits Board, he said.
There is a possible move in the future to return only the money deposited by retired teachers and employees, he said adding such a move could create distrust among teachers and employees towards the government.
He said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had allocated 2 percent of GDP for the education sector in the 2026-27 fiscal year and assured that the allocation would be raised to 5 percent over the next four years. Besides, Tk 200 crore had been allocated for welfare and retirement benefits, he said.
“These measures had helped build confidence among the teaching community in the government. But the Education Ministry was trying to create misunderstanding through subtle tactics so that teachers and employees could be deprived of their legitimate rights,” said Jashim Uddin.