The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal will set aside funds to include as many as 1,000 educational institutions under the government’s monthly pay order (MPO) scheme, according to education ministry officials.
Deputy Secretary Md Abdullah Al Mamun of the Secondary and Higher Education Division confirmed Bangla Tribune that the 2018-19 budget will set aside funds in this regard.
The same wing’s Additional Secretary Arun Biswas echoed, but could not provide the exact figure.
“Initially, the finance ministry excluded it from the allocation, but later included it,” she told Bangla Tribune.
According to education ministry sources, the proposed budget is set to allocate Tk 530.64 billion for education, the highest in the last ten years.
The budget for the ongoing 2017-18 fiscal allocated Tk 231.48 billion.
Education ministry officials said no educational institutions have been included in the MPO scheme since 2010.
The allocation came in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s assurance, when the ministry cleared a set of policy for MPO-inclusion, said officials.