Around 1767 non-government educational institutions in the country are set to enjoy Monthly Payment Order (MPO) benefits immediately. The education ministry has finalised the much-talked-about MPO process for the non-government educational institutions. Excluding Madrasa and Technical educational institutions, finalising a list of 1767 non-government educational institutions, the education ministry has proposed to bring them under MPO, sources in the education ministry said.
Over 4.50 lakh teachers and employees of 26,340 secondary schools, colleges, madrasas and technical institutions are now enjoying MPO benefits at present. After finalising the list, the secondary and higher secondary education department of education ministry has already placed the proposal with education minister, Dipu Moni, for approval.
“Later the proposal will be sent to the prime minister’s office for the final nod,” an official of the education ministry said. A total of taka 865 crore has been allocated for new educational institutions in the MPO list in the current fiscal. The educational institutions to be brought under MPO are 551 junior high schools, 1002 secondary high schools, 67 schools and colleges, 94 higher secondary colleges and 53 degree (honours and masters) colleges.
According to the education ministry sources, when 1767 non-government educational institutions are brought under MPO, a total of taka 796.46 crore will be spent. And the education ministry will have a surplus of taka 68.57 crore. The government allocated a total of Tk. 29,624 crore for the secondary and higher education sector, which was Tk. 25,866 crore in the current fiscal year.
Apart from the general educational institutions, the education ministry is also working to bring the non-government Madrasas and Technical educational institutions under MPO separately. The MPO process for the non-government Madrasa and Technical educational institutions is at the final stage. And the list is expected to be finalised by tomorrow (Sunday).
Earlier, the government developed an online application system for eligible non-MPO educational institutions seeking MPO enlistment. After receiving online applications for MPO enlistment, the education ministry then invited applications from the eligible non-MPO educational institutions. Based on the applications, the selection committee assessed the manpower of non-government educational institutions and made the selection as per the MPO Policy 2018.
After scrutiny, it was found that not a single educational institution in 89 upazilas was eligible for MPO. According to the education ministry, a total of 6,141 non-government educational institutions had submitted applications to the education ministry for MPO. After scrutiny, some 1767 educational institutions have been considered eligible for MPO while 4492 have been disqualified.
According to the education ministry list, some 2,762 out of 9,614 private secondary schools, colleges, technical institutions and madrasas have become eligible to get the MPO benefits. More than half or 1,629 of the institutions are schools and colleges while the number of technical and vocational institutions are 582. A total of 551 madrasas have met the criteria to be under the MPO scheme.
Sources in the finance ministry said, schools and colleges will get Tk 865 crore, and Tk 282 crore will go to vocational institutions and madrasas. The education ministry sources said, in many upazilas, there are 10 to 12 good institutions which are eligible to get the MPO. But there are some areas like hills and haors where getting one to two eligible institutions is tough, he said.
As per the rules, an educational institution first comes under the MPO scheme, and then the government includes the teachers of the institution in the payroll. In 2010, the AL government reinstated it, bringing 1,624 more institutions under the scheme. But since then, no other institution got the benefits.
