Nearly 2,00,000 teachers and staff of MPO-listed private madrasas have still not received their salaries for May, while a Madrasa Education Directorate official has confirmed that the payments will not be made during the remaining days of the month either.
After failing to receive their May salaries even by the end of the second week of June, teachers began contacting the ministry and the directorate. Officials at the Madrasa Education Directorate then told them that the salaries could not be paid as there was no money left in the fund.
The directorate has cited the recruitment of new teachers as the reason for the fund shortage. Teachers, however, have rejected the explanation, saying recruitment is not a new development.
According to government data, there are 8,229 madrasas among the country’s 26,105 MPO-listed educational institutions. These madrasas employ around 1,91,000 teachers and staff, none of whom will receive their May salaries before funds are released under the new budget.
A teacher at Palashbari Mohila Fazil Degree Madrasa in Gaibandha said, “It is already difficult to manage the education expenses of my two children and run the family on my salary. Now, without the salary, my debts have increased. I feel embarrassed because I cannot pay the shops where I buy goods on credit.”
Leaders of the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers and Employees Forum said recruitment had not taken place only in madrasas. “Teachers were also recruited in schools and technical institutions. Everyone else has received their salaries; only madrasa teachers have not,” they said.
Delwar Hossain Azizi, principal of Mymensingh Katlasen Kaderia Kamil Madrasa and member secretary of the MPO-listed Education Nationalisation Aspirants’ Alliance, told TIMES of Bangladesh, “This has happened because of negligence by the Madrasa Education Directorate.”
A senior official of the directorate blamed its Director General Md Ubaidul Hoque for the situation. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said they had wanted to prepare the May salary proposal for madrasa teachers and staff and send it to the ministry two days before the Eid holidays. However, the newly appointed director general did not approve the proposal.
After Eid, and before the budget in June, the finance ministry withdrew the funds from the education ministry. As a result, there was no money left in the fund, and Integrated Budget and Accounting System (iBAS) did not accept the salary request.
Another Education Directorate official said, “The director general is inexperienced. He has joined recently, so perhaps he did not understand the matter.
Before the budget is announced, the finance ministry withdraws surplus funds from all ministries. Perhaps this issue was not on his mind. He wanted to send the salary proposal to the ministry after Eid.”
Despite repeated attempts, Md Ubaidul Hoque, director general of the Madrasa Education Directorate, could not be reached for comment. He did not respond to phone calls, WhatsApp calls or messages.
Officials said the directorate is now working to ensure that teachers receive their salaries for both May and June together in the second week of July.
