Party expresses ‘principled support’ for teachers’ movement, pledges action if elected
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has expressed its “principled support” for the ongoing movement of MPO-listed teachers, who have been staging nationwide protests demanding increased allowances and job security.
In an official statement issued on Saturday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that as a “responsible political party,” BNP and its acting chairman Tarique Rahman “stand in agreement with the just demands of the country’s teachers.”
The statement underscored BNP’s commitment to ensuring fair financial benefits, job security, and proper state recognition of teachers’ contributions. “No reform in governance or civic advancement can succeed without modernising the education system and ensuring teachers’ economic and social security,” the statement read.
BNP also announced that, if voted into power, the party would “positively consider strengthening financial safety nets for teachers, regularising employment, and gradually nationalising all educational institutions in line with the state’s capacity.”
However, the statement also issued a warning: “If opportunist collaborators of the fallen autocratic regime attempt to exploit the teachers’ legitimate movement to create deliberate instability and obstruct democratic transition, BNP will show zero tolerance.”
Teachers under the “Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO-listed Education” have been observing work abstention and demonstrations across the country, demanding a 20% house rent allowance, increased medical and festival allowances, and eventual nationalisation of their institutions.
