One in seven teachers and staff of MPO-listed private educational institutions fail to secure their entitled post-retirement benefits during their lifetime.
Burdened by age and illness, many of these elderly individuals pass away before receiving their dues, forcing their heirs to restart a prolonged struggle to obtain the benefits.
Many, even while battling life-threatening diseases, are unable to access the funds they are entitled to for treatment. These benefits are to ensure that they have a comfortable retirement time.
At the Teachers and Employees Retirement Benefit Board of Private Educational Institutions in Eskaton, Dhaka, such cases are common. Teachers are often seen pleading to recover their own accumulated funds—only to leave disappointed and frustrated.
Teachers and staff are entitled to two types of benefits–welfare fund payments and retirement benefits. After completing 25 years of service, they are supposed to receive retirement benefits equivalent to 75 times their last basic salary scale, along with 25 times the scale amount from the welfare fund.
Throughout their careers, they contribute 6% of their basic salary to the retirement fund and 4% to the welfare fund. However, the total accumulated amount is insufficient to cover the benefits owed. As a result, retirees often have to wait at least four years, repeatedly visiting the board and requesting the concerned officials.
The government occasionally provides grants, but these are inadequate for all retirees. It has been learned that if the government allocated an additional Tk 700 crore annually, this would meet demand of only one year. But the backlog created over the years will remain.
Talking to TIMES of Bangladesh Director of the Retirement Benefit Board, M Jafar Ahmed came up with a sorry statistic: around 15% of teachers and staff die before receiving their retirement funds. “Their family members later withdraw the money.”
Across the country, there are approximately 650,000 teachers and staff working in MPO-listed institutions, with about 15,000 retiring each year. To meet their dues, at least Tk1,500 crore is required annually from the retirement board and welfare trust combined.
Will his cancer treatment be denied?
Last Tuesday, two individuals entered the board secretary’s office. One of them had recently retired from a college in Chattogram and was suffering from brain cancer.
Physically frail and barely able to speak, even his name could not be confirmed. Through his companion, he submitted the necessary documents to director Jafar Ahmed and requested urgent disbursement of his retirement funds for advanced treatment.
However, after reviewing the documents, director informed him that he might receive the money only toward the end of 2027. “It would not be possible before that.”
Standing at the brink of life and death, the retired teacher pleaded, explaining that immediate treatment was critical; otherwise, surviving until 2027 would be uncertain.
Jafar Ahmed tried to console him, saying, “We have requested the government to form a special fund. Please check again after a few months—if the fund is approved, arrangements may be possible. Otherwise, we cannot break the serial order.”
Is there truly nothing that can be done for someone in such a condition? Responding to this question, he said that among nearly 15,000 retirees in 2022 alone, at least 3,000 have submitted medical certificates citing illness. “Every day, one or two such critically ill individuals come to us,” he added.
However, he did not mention that a board decision from several years ago allows cancer patients and those requiring heart bypass or kidney surgery to skip the serial queue and receive priority payments.
Similar provisions exist for Hajj pilgrims and freedom fighters, ensuring expedited disbursement.
When asked why this teacher could not benefit from such provisions, the director explained, “Before the August 5 uprising, this system was in place. But many people submitted fake medical documents to jump the queue. Verifying authenticity became difficult, so the practice has now been suspended.”
A senior official of the board told TIMES that a rigid bureaucratic mindset cannot solve the problem. “While there is a financial shortfall, a more humane and sensitive approach could allow prioritizing those in urgent need,” the official said.
Humanity trapped in red tape
On Monday afternoon, Abdul Quddus, a retired office assistant from Shailan Surma High School in Dhamrai was seen on the board’s veranda.
Suffering from kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other ailments, he could barely walk. Accompanied by a helper, he had come to inquire about his retirement dues.
After 41 years of service, Quddus retired in 2022. His ailing wife, abandoned daughter, and school-going granddaughter depend on him. The dues could have been a lifeline.
“I waited over four years and finally received about Tk350,000 from the welfare trust last month,” he told TIMES. “But I don’t know when I’ll get the retirement benefits from the board. They asked me to check again after a few months.”
Similar was the situation of Md. Habibullah, an assistant teacher from Daudkandi, Cumilla, who retired five years ago after 30 years of service but has yet to receive his pension. He visited the board again last Monday to inquire about the timeline.
“I’ve updated my documents several times. It’s been so long. If I receive the money now, it will still help my family,” a frustrated Habibullah said.
Where the solution lies
Between 2022 and 2025, applications from 115,000 retired teachers and staff remain pending. Of these, 70,000 are stuck with the retirement board while 45,000 with the welfare trust.
Director Jafar Ahmed said the crisis stems from inadequate government allocations. “We have now started processing payments for those who retired in the first three months of 2022,” he said, adding that most retirees up to 2021 have already been paid, except for a few cases with documentation issues.
With around 650,000 teachers and staff and 15,000 retiring annually, about Tk1,500 crore is needed each year.
Although there is no fixed annual allocation from the government, previous board secretaries managed to establish a significant fund, now kept as fixed deposits in banks. The interest generated, combined with monthly contributions from teachers and staff, amounts to roughly Tk1,000 crore annually, leaving a shortfall of about Tk500 crore.
The retirement board faces an annual deficit of Tk360–384 crore, resulting in a four-year backlog. Meanwhile, the welfare trust has a yearly shortfall of over Tk150 crore, causing delays of three to three-and-a-half years.
Secretary of the Welfare Trust, Md Humayun Kabir Sheikh, said payments have recently begun for those who retired in December 2022, with funds available for four to five months of disbursement.
According to combined data from both funds, the total deficit exceeds Tk9,000 crore. If the government allocates this amount—either as a one-time grant or over several years—all dues up to 2026 could be cleared.
Thereafter, allocating Tk700 crore annually in the budget would ensure that MPO-listed teachers and staff receive all their retirement benefits immediately upon retirement.
