Festival bonus for MPO teachers may rise to 60pc

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has recommended increasing the festival bonus for MPO-listed teachers and staff working in private educational institutions to 60pc of their basic salary.

He made the recommendation in a semi-official letter (D.O. letter) recently sent to Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, reports media.

In the letter, the Education Minister stated that the contribution of teachers and staff in private educational institutions is immense for the development of the education sector.

Ensuring better employment benefits, welfare, and improving the quality of educational services is the government’s responsibility.

He noted that in the past, higher spending on physical infrastructure compared to the education sector led to a constrained education budget, which created disparities in the living standards and social status of teachers.

To address this, the government is planning to increase the budget for the education sector, the minister said.

Currently, there are approximately 604,651 MPO-listed teachers and staff in the country.

They are now receiving a festival bonus at a rate of 50pc of their basic salary. The proposal suggests raising this bonus to 60pc to improve their quality of life.

According to the proposal, the additional 10pc increase in the bonus would require an extra allocation of BDT 190 crore for the Secondary and Higher Education Division and BDT 95.80 crore for the Technical and Madrasa Education Division, totaling BDT 285.80 crore.

In this context, ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has requested the Finance Minister to provide the necessary additional allocation in the revised budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.