Teachers Will No Longer Have to Visit Offices Repeatedly to Receive Retirement Benefits: PM

PNN News Desk: Dhaka

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said that private-sector teachers will no longer have to visit different government offices repeatedly to receive their retirement benefits. He said arrangements would be made in the future to ensure that the money owed to retired teachers and employees reaches their bank accounts online at the scheduled time without any form of harassment.

The prime minister made the remarks on Saturday (August 15) while inaugurating the distribution of funds from the Retirement Benefit Board and the Non-Government Educational Institution Teachers and Employees Welfare Trust simultaneously across all 64 districts at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital.

At the event, the prime minister said that after waiting nearly four years since 2022, retired teachers of private schools, colleges and madrasas have started receiving part of the money they had deposited. In total, 123,000 teachers are being brought under the benefit scheme. He expressed hope that the long-standing financial uncertainty of more than 70,000 teachers would be reduced to some extent.

The prime minister said there are two important funds for retired teachers. One is the Non-Government Educational Institution Teachers and Employees Welfare Trust, while the other is the Retirement Benefit Board. Teachers and employees regularly contribute money to these funds during their careers, while the government also contributes at a fixed rate. After retirement, these funds are supposed to serve as one of the main sources of their financial security.

However, Tarique Rahman said teachers have faced various forms of harassment for years while trying to withdraw the money they are entitled to. Allegations of unethical financial transactions in the process of withdrawing the money have also emerged, he said.

The prime minister said that those who teach students about values, morality and ideals should not have to pay bribes or visit one office after another to receive their rightful money. According to him, such a situation is not only humiliating for teachers but also a matter of shame for the state and society as a whole.

The prime minister claimed that the two funds had faced financial difficulties during the previous government because of various irregularities and weaknesses in financial management. As a result, retired teachers who left their jobs after 2022 did not regularly receive money from the funds.

After the current government assumed office, the issue was reviewed and a decision was made to pay the outstanding benefits of retired teachers. However, because the funds did not have sufficient money, the government arranged the necessary financing through special measures to make the payments, the prime minister said.

Tarique Rahman said the retirement benefit funds had faced major difficulties because of weak technological infrastructure, irregularities in fund management and activities such as misappropriation of money. The impact of these problems was felt by people who had spent many years teaching before retiring.

The prime minister emphasized the need to simplify the process of receiving retirement benefits in the future. He said the entire process would be made more transparent and technology-based so that teachers would not have to depend on intermediaries and would not have to provide anyone with additional payments to receive their money.

He said the government would make every possible effort, as long as it remained in office, to ensure that teachers no longer had to visit offices repeatedly to receive their retirement benefits. Arrangements would be made so that teachers’ entitled money could be transferred directly to their bank accounts online at the scheduled time.

At the event, the prime minister also paid tribute to former prime minister Khaleda Zia. Tarique Rahman said Khaleda Zia had played an important role in establishing the Teachers and Employees Welfare Trust in 1991 and the Retirement Benefit Board in 2002 for the welfare of teachers and employees of private educational institutions.

He also highlighted several initiatives taken by Khaleda Zia in the education sector, particularly the introduction of stipends and tuition-free education opportunities to promote women’s education.

Tarique Rahman said teachers’ social role does not end after retirement. According to him, a teacher helps shape countless students, and those students later contribute to different sectors of society. Therefore, even after formally retiring from teaching, teachers continue to have responsibilities toward society.

The prime minister also highlighted the important role of retired teachers in maintaining religious, social and family values. He called on teachers to continue serving as a source of guidance and enlightenment in society throughout the remainder of their lives.