Secondary MPO schools must pay admission fees to govt

The government yesterday instructed all secondary educational institutions to deposit the admission fees collected from students with the state coffer.

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) in a notification asked all district education officers to take necessary measures so that the secondary schools deposit admission fees collected in 2023-2024 fiscal year with the government's treasury.

The circular said the list of the educational institutions, along with the copies of the treasury challans related to the deposits, must be submitted to the DSHE within the next four working days.

DSHE sources said they issued the notification based on a letter from the finance ministry to the education ministry regarding the matter.

"We have issued the notice following the directives from the education ministry," said DSHE Director Syed Zafar Ali.

He, however, did notgive the reason for the ministry's instruction.

A top DSHE official, however, said non-government schools do not deposit their incomes from students' admission fees with the government's treasury.

"The government now wants those schools to deposit their incomes from admission fees with its treasury as it has a plan to increase the benefits of the MPO-listed teachers," the official said wishing not to be named.

The MPO is part of the government's share in the payroll of non-government educational institutions.

Leaders of teachers' platforms have expressed concern over the government's move.

Alauddin Bhuiya, secretary general of Bangladesh Teachers Association, told The Daily Star that MPO-listed schools bear a large part of their expenses with the money collected from students' admission fees.

"The government has made the decision without any consultation with us. Such a decision in the middle of an academic year would make running of non-government schools difficult," he added.

There are around 30,000 non-government MPO-listed schools and colleges in the country, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics.