MPO teachers hold black flag march over 3-point demand

Teachers and staff of private educational institutions under the MPO scheme staged a black flag march on the seventh day of their movement, demanding a 20% increase in house rent allowance, a medical allowance of Tk 1,500, and an increase in festival allowance to 75%.

On Saturday afternoon, October 18, they marched from the Central Shaheed Minar, passing through Doel Chattar and ending with a brief rally at Kadam Fountain. During the rally, the teachers chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Education Adviser C.R. Abrar—“C.R. Abrar, no longer required!”

Speakers at the rally said, “Ministers and bureaucrats need not just house rent, they need whole houses. Yet we are deprived of our fair housing allowance. For over a week, we have been sitting, sleeping, and protesting on Dhaka’s streets, but no one is listening to us.”

The teachers had begun their continuous sit-in in front of the National Press Club on Sunday, October 12. When police dispersed them, they moved to the Shaheed Minar, where they have continued their protest. The demonstrators said they would not return to their workplaces until their demands are met.

Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO Nationalisation Demand Alliance, said, “The 20% housing allowance must be implemented. We will not leave Shaheed Minar until our demands are fulfilled.” He added that the number of teachers joining the hunger strike is increasing daily, and the ongoing work abstention in private educational institutions across the country will continue indefinitely.