New MPO policy includes tertiary teachers

Staff Reporter :

The government has fixed a new Monthly Pay Order (MPO) policy for private schools and colleges, bringing several key changes, including the opportunity for Bachelor’s (Honours) and Master’s-level teachers to be brought under the scheme, as well as revisions to the criteria for institutions seeking MPO eligibility.

The Secondary and Higher Education Division of the education ministry released the “Non-Government Educational Institutions (Schools and Colleges) Manpower Structure and MPO Policy 2025” as a gazette, dated Dec 4, on Sunday.

Syed AZ Morshed Ali, deputy secretary of the private secondary branch of the division, said the new policy updates the institutional criteria for MPO inclusion. A separate indicator for academic recognition or affiliation has been added, and the requirement of having 55 students per class has also been retained. He said the rules for eligibility for the BEd pay scale have been revised. Previously, teachers who obtained a BEd degree from government teachers’ training institutes and a few private institutions were eligible.

Under the new policy, teachers who complete a BEd at private institutions will also qualify, provided those institutions are affiliated with the National University or the University Grants Commission, and the affiliation is publicly listed on their websites.

The ministry abolished the post of senior lecturer in private colleges in October, and this change has now been incorporated into the new policy.