Mohammad Ishak, who has been teaching at a madrasa in Sylhet for over 34 years, draws a monthly salary of only Tk 26,980 -- hardly enough to support his family and cover the educational expenses of his three children.

He joined fellow teachers at the Central Shaheed Minar on October 17 to press their three-point demand, which includes raising the house rent allowance to 20 percent of the basic salary.

"Even if the government meets the demand, my salary will increase by a mere Tk 3,000… We are being denied a decent life. Still, the government is not paying heed to our justified demands," Ishak told The Daily Star.

His words reflect the frustration of thousands of MPO-listed teachers who have been demonstrating in the capital, saying their salaries are too low to meet the basic needs of their families.

Their other demands include increasing medical allowance to Tk 1,500 from Tk 500, and festival allowance to 75 percent from 50 percent of basic salary.

The Monthly Pay Order (MPO) is the government's share in the payroll of non-government educational institutions. Under the scheme, the government gives 100 percent basic salaries to teachers of non-government institutions. The teachers also get a small amount a month as allowances through the MPO.

As per the rules, an educational institution first comes under the MPO scheme and then the government includes the teachers of the institution in the payroll.

At the entry level, a teacher in an MPO-listed institution receives a monthly salary of Tk 12,500, along with Tk 1,000 as house rent allowance, and Tk 500 as medical allowance.

Yesterday, the government raised the house rent allowance for MPO-listed teachers and employees to five percent of basic salary, with a minimum threshold of Tk 2,000 per month. The teachers, however, rejected it, vowing to continue their protests.

Earlier in September, the finance ministry approved a Tk 500 increase in the house rent allowance, which the teachers rejected, calling it "insufficient".

Currently, around 3.8 lakh teachers and 1.7 lakh staff members work at more than 26,000 MPO-listed institutions across the country.

If the house rent allowance is increased to 20 percent of the basic salary, an MPO-listed employee would get an additional amount ranging from Tk 1,000 to Tk 12,000 per month, saidDelwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO Institutions, which is leading the protests.

According to education ministry documents, if approved, the 20 percent raise would cost the government around Tk 3,400 crore annually -- up from around Tk 500 crore.

The agitating teachers said they had no other option but to take to the streets as their income has barely increased over the years, even though living costs have risen sharply.

They said the prices of rice, edible oil, and other essentials continue to soar, making it impossible to manage even the most basic household expenses.

Sanowara Begum, a teacher at a high school in Chandpur, said, "We cannot have three proper meals a day. I cannot even provide nutritious food to my three-year-old child." 

"Many of us live a life worse than that of a day labourer, who can earn more by working harder. But no matter how many classes we take or how sincerely we teach, our salary never rises enough to properly feed our families," said Abdul Ahmad, a teacher from Sunamganj.

Another teacher from Narsingdi said, "Our children grow up learning that being a teacher means a life of constant hardship."

This correspondent talked to at least 25 teachers at Central Shaheed Minar on October 17 and found that at least nine of them were posted in areas several hundred kilometers away from their village homes.

They can rarely visit their families, with financial hardship turning their lives into a daily struggle.

"My village home is in Jamalpur, but I was posted at a school in Chandpur's Matlab South upazila. It's extremely hard for me to support my family as I have to pay Tk 3,000 as house rent," said Sanowara Begum, adding that her husband quit his job in Dhaka to live with her.

Imran Hasan and Sabina Yeasmin -- a couple teaching at two different MPO-listed schools -- face similar struggles.

Imran was posted at a school in Cumilla's Daudkandi upazila in 2019, while his wife Sabina was teaching at a school in Dhaka's Rampura.

"We have to maintain three households as my parents live in Khulna, my wife in Dhaka, and I in Cumilla. We cannot even think of saving any money," said Imran, who came to Shaheed Minar with his wife and five-year-old daughter.

Lamenting that he sometimes borrows money to meet the expenses, he said, "If I or any of my family members fall sick, I have to borrow money and repay it over months, sometimes years. This is the life of an MPO-listed teacher."

"How can we focus on our students when we are worried about feeding our families?" said another teacher, sitting next to Imran.

"We cannot afford nutritious food for our babies, new clothes, or even a good doctor when we fall sick. Many of us live in small, damp houses," he said as many of his fellow protesters were chanting slogans: "We are not asking for charity; we are asking for a life of dignity."

On October 12, MPO-listed teachers from across the country joined protests in front of the Jatiya Press Club. Police dispersed them, using water cannons, batons, and sound grenades.

Later, they took position at the Central Shaheed Minar, where they protested the police action and announced a countrywide work abstention from the following day.

During their eight-day protest, the teachers blocked Shahbagh intersection and threatened to march towards Jamuna, the chief adviser's residence.

The teachers launched a hunger strike unto death on October 17, saying it would continue until the government meets their demands.