Teachers of non-government schools and colleges under the government’s monthly pay order (MPO) scheme are yet to receive their June salary despite the fact that 19 days of the following month have already passed.
Teachers have expressed their discontent with the delay, and said: “It has pushed them into a corner with the prices of essential commodities soaring with the start of Ramadan.”
The teachers of MPO-listed educational institutions get 90% of their salary from the government under this arrangement.
“Teachers are mostly low-paid and have to struggle to manage their living expenses. But this delay, with the half of July already gone, is making it harder for them to survive,” Teachers Employee United Alliance Chairman Salim Bhiyan said yesterday.
This correspondent interviewed a number of teachers to ask their reactions to the situation; all of them spoke in the same vein about not having received their salaries so late in a month.
They expressed apprehension over possible delays in getting their Eid bonuses and July salaries as a consequence of the existing delay.
Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Director General Fahima Khatun admitted to the Dhaka Tribune that teachers are yet to receive the June salary.
“All necessary preparations are in order but we haven’t yet got the gazette notification, hence the delay. Whenever we have it, teachers will get their salary,” she said.
The same problem arises every year in June, the month when the budget is released, she said, hoping it would be resolved by next Sunday.
Fahima also expressed her hope that teachers would not have to face a similar problem with getting their Eid bonuses or their salaries for the next month.