Staff Correspondent

Education Advisor Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud stated that the long-standing harassment and inconvenience faced by MPO-enlisted teachers and employees of private educational institutions under the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education have been resolved. This has been achieved through the introduction of the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) system, which directly transfers salaries, retirement, and welfare benefits to their bank accounts.

Speaking today as the chief guest at an event organized by the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka, Professor Mahmud inaugurated the online EFT-based transfer of MPO funds for teachers and staff. He also unveiled the online version of textbooks for the 2025 academic year on the NCTB website. He remarked, "The introduction of the EFT system for MPO benefits will eliminate corruption."

Following this, he officially launched the online version of the 2025 textbooks and unveiled their covers.
The Education Advisor further added, "Out of 523 books, we had to make corrections and additions to 431. Additionally, this year we opted to print the books domestically instead of outsourcing them abroad. As a result, it took some additional time. However, we hope to ensure that all educational institutions receive the books within January."

Special guests included Professor Dr. M Aminul Islam, Special Assistant to the Ministry of Education; Siddique Zobair, Senior Secretary, Secondary and Higher Education Division; Dr. K M Kabirul Islam, Secretary, Technical and Madrasah Education Division; and Professor Dr. A.K.M. Riazul Hasan, NCTB. Bilquis Jahan Rimi, Additional Secretary, Budget-1 and National Program Director of Strengthening Public Financial Management Program to Enable Service Delivery (SPFMS) made a presentation of EFT. The session was presided over by Professor A B M Rezaul Karim , Director General of DSHE.

Under this new system, the salaries, retirement, and welfare benefits of MPO-listed teachers and staff from private educational institutions will be directly transferred to their bank accounts through the EFT method. This initiative will eliminate delays, save time, and ensure financial transparency and accountability in the payment process.

To streamline government financial management, the iBAS++ system (Integrated Budget and Accounting System) is being used. iBAS++ is a scheme under Strengthening Public Financial Management Program to Enable Services Delivery (SPFMS) of the Finance Division. Through this system, financial services are swiftly provided to government employees, retirees, and social safety net beneficiaries. Teachers' and staff members' information is stored in the EMIS platform, from which payrolls are generated and payments are transferred directly to their bank accounts via iBAS++ and the EFT system.

Under the EFT system, MPO-listed teachers and staff will receive their salaries on the first working day of every month. Salary-related information will be communicated via SMS, and institution heads will be able to view salary statements online. Retirement and welfare benefits for teachers and staff of private educational institutions will also be provided through the EFT system. Contributions of 6% and 4% of their salaries will be deposited into retirement and welfare funds, respectively. Benefits for retired teachers and staff will be directly transferred to their bank accounts. Applicants can track the progress of their applications through SMS notifications at each stage.

For the 2024-25 fiscal year, a budget allocation of BDT 13,495.16 crore has been made for the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. Of this, BDT 4,329.97 crore has been allocated for private colleges and BDT 9,165.19 crore for schools. Additionally, BDT 5,073.58 crore and BDT 450 crore have been allocated to the Madrasah Education Directorate and the Technical Education Directorate, respectively.

Currently, there are 19,847 MPO-listed institutions in the country, with a total of 398,068 MPO-listed teachers and staff. These include: 2,828 colleges with 68,949 MPO-listed teachers and 28,257 staff; 17,478 schools with 211,443 MPO-listed teachers and 89,419 staff; 8,229 madrasahs with 138,559 MPO-listed teachers and 42,134 staff, and 2,282 technical education institutions with 16,557 MPO-listed teachers and 5,564 staff.

This new EFT system for MPO-listed teachers will ensure significant savings in time and money while enhancing financial transparency in the education sector.

Future plans include integrating iBAS++ with the Madrasah and Technical Education Directorates and creating Personal Ledger (PL) accounts for public universities to facilitate salary payments via the EFT system.