Teachers and employees of non-government
schools are supposed to serve with sincerity, but expect nothing in
return. The government seems to have no obligation towards them at all.
About 37 thousand teachers, who have gone on retirement three years ago,
have not been receiving any retirement benefits at all! How come the
government's treasury seems to shrink when it comes to paying teachers?
The Retirement Benefit Board was formed in 2003, but it still does
not have either adequate funds or logistics. And of course there is the
matter of negligence, corruption and misbehavour. After so much
suffering, it still takes the teachers up till three to three and a half
years to receive their retirement benefits.
When a poorly paid teacher goes into retirement, he faces the harsh
reality of old age. There is the cost of living to consider, which
includes food, clothing and the inevitable medical treatment of old age.
Many of them use their entire life's savings to ensure their
children's future or arrange for alternative means of income. But with
the government's neglect, all these plans go awry.
Prothom Alo yesterday reported that every year the
retirement fund has a deficit of about 390 million taka. Approximate
13.23 billion taka is required to meet everyone's dues. The question is,
if 4% of the teachers' salaries is being deducted every month, and
there is the additional donations to the fund, why is their such a
gaping deficit?
The government should have had budget allocation for retirement benefits.
All recommendations and requests should be ignored and as many payments be made as soon as possible.
Until and unless education and teachers are given priority, the
standard of education and the lives of teachers will continue to
deteriorate. Retired teachers are a part of our older generation. It is
wrong of the government not to give them a fair deal. If the government
is sincere, the problem can be resolved immediately.
Source: http://en.prothom-alo.com/opinion/news/55605/Retirement-benefits-for-teachers
