The demonstration was called off on Friday after Additional Secretary Sajjadul Hasan, who serves as the PS-1 to PM, informed the protestors in front of the press club that the prime minister has assured that their demand will be met.

“The prime minister’s PS told us that measures to sign up approved institutions will be initiated very soon. The hunger strike has been called off upon the prime minister’s assurance,” Golam Mahmudunnabi Dollar, president of non-MPO Educational Institution Teacher-Staff Federation, told bdnews24.com.

Several hundred teachers from across the country have gathered in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka since Dec 26 to demand that state-sanctioned institutions be included on the pay list. They started a hunger strike on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid met the demonstrators in an attempt to break the strike, when he said that he received the finance minister’s consent.

Despite his assurance teachers continued to protest.

The demonstrators, however, said then they would call off the hunger strike if the prime minister assured them.

More than 50 teachers had to be given medical assistance during the hunger strike which lasted for six days.

“We will return to classes from tomorrow. We hope that all of the schools will come under MPO coverage this time. We have been told the process has started,” Binoy Bhushan Roy, general secretary of the teachers’ federation, told bdnews24.com.

The last time educational institutions were brought under the MPO coverage was eight years ago.

In 2010, the government included 1,624 institutions under the scheme, in which the state pays the salaries of teachers and staff.

Around 80,000 teachers and staff of nearly 525,000 educational institutions are outside the MPO