MPO and MPs
The education ministry declared new 1,022 non-government education institutions out of 6,000 in cue to receive MPO (monthly pay order) for teachers' salaries and benefits. Following this, on 11 May 2010, most dailies in Bangladesh made front-page news that at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by the prime minister at the secretariat, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid was under fire from ministers for not accommodating their choices.
The prime minister immediately gave directive to review this list and asked Education Adviser Dr Alauddin Ahmed to prepare a fresh list for MPO.
What was wrong with the MPO list that the prime minister had to send it to the education adviser instead of the minister for its review? The reason is that Nurul Islam Nahid failed to compose a comedy of errors as he was expected with names of non-government institutions eligible for MPO (monthly pay order).
The hurt audience of MPs of the Awami League alleged that his list included many institutions established under the BNP-Jamaat period, while excluding many bearing the name of Bangabandhu. How some ministers can become more influential than others is evident in that cabinet meeting; it is by putting the name of Bangabandhu into anything fair or unfair they do.
The ministers said the education minister did not understand the pulse of the Awami League politics and they became so narrow as to say that it was because he had come from a different political party. Thank God, our education minister has not understood 'the pulse of Awami League politics' in their way.
Is Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman happy in heaven seeing the shameful playing with the list of education institutions for MPO by his daughter as leader of the country?
The prime minister should be concerned only about how many children are dropping out from quality education due to an improper enlistment for MPO, instead of how many times the name of Bangabandhu is dropping out from the list.
It would have been befitting for Sheikh Hasina to tell the aggrieved ministers that they should think about the long-term goal of quality education and thank the education minister for doing his work without fearing anyone.
Of course, there should be no objection to review of anything to make it better. It will be good if more schools are added to the list because many teachers have been suffering due to non-payment of salaries.
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