Published: 08:33 AM, 17 October 2025
MPO teachers suspend Jamuna-bound march
MPO-listed teachers and staff have postponed their planned march towards the State Guest House Jamuna, citing fears that "opportunists" could turn the demonstration into chaos.
The protesters have planned a fast unto death from Friday.
The march had been announced with a deadline of 5:00pm on Thursday, the fifth day of the protest, but was later suspended.
Delawar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO Education Nationalisation Alliance, conveyed the decision to assembled teachers at the Central Shaheed Minar.
He announced that from 2:00pm Friday, participants would begin a hunger strike, saying: "We will not leave until our demands are met; our bodies will remain here."
Azizi said political leaders had contacted the protesters, warning that the march could be exploited by opportunists to create unrest. At the same time, these leaders assured the teachers that the government was under pressure to meet their demands.
The teachers, however, plan to continue their sit-in protests.
"All classes will remain suspended until our demands are accepted," Azizi reiterated.
Earlier, the planned march had been delayed as teachers attended a meeting at the Secretariat, returning around 3:15pm to the Central Shaheed Minar.
Azizi said, "We gave the chief advisor until 5:00pm to resolve the issues. Otherwise, we would have proceeded with the march towards Jamuna."
Protesters demand a 20 percent increase in base salary for house rent allowance, raising medical allowances for MPO-affiliated teachers from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, and increasing festival allowance from 50 percent to 75 percent of base salary.
The protests began on Sunday with sit-ins at the National Press Club, later moving to the Shaheed Minar after police intervention.
Tensions escalated when a section of teachers attempted to maintain their protest in front of the Press Club, prompting police to use stun grenades, water cannons, and batons.
Since Monday, continuous strikes across private educational institutions have been observed in protest of police actions.
The government had increased house rent allowance by Tk 500 on Sept 30, but the announcement on Oct 5 was rejected by teachers.
Subsequent proposals sent to the finance ministry on Oct 6 suggested raising house rent allowance to Tk 2,000-3,000.
At the moment, MPO-affiliated teachers receive salary under the national pay scale, a Tk 500 monthly medical allowance, and a festival allowance of 50 percent of base salary.
