Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, September 22, 2021 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) welcomes the Government of Bangladesh’s announcement that learning facilities in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps can reopen for Rohingya refugee children, after over a year of closure.
In 2020, the Government made a commitment to further support Rohingya children by piloting the use of the Myanmar education curriculum. The initial 10,000 Rohingya students were due to begin in 2020, but due to COVID the initiative was postponed as lockdowns were introduced. For Rohingya children, interruptions in their education are not new and they have experienced constraints on their access in Myanmar, and since 2017 when they arrived in Cox’s Bazar.
In response to this announcement the IRC is preparing to reopen its 41 learning facilities, providing an education programme aimed at filling the critical education gaps felt by Rohingya children through interactive and engaging learning games that support children to learn at home, if they are unable to access the limited learning spaces available.
Ahsan Mahbub, IRC Education Coordinator in Bangladesh, said,
“This latest move by the Government of Bangladesh to re-open learning facilities is an encouraging step in the Rohingya refugee response. Children account for more than 51% of the Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar and have been left out of education for far too long, having been denied access in Myanmar. Even after their arrival in Bangladesh their only pathway to any form of education was informal learning provided by humanitarian agencies, leaving a staggering 83% of young people in Cox’s Bazar with no access to educational or skills development activities.
It is now critical that the Government and UN agencies now build on this progress to rapidly revive the piloting of the Myanmar curriculum and expand the pilot to other refugees. Access to education is an undeniable right and without it, children risk growing up exposed to exploitation and abuse, including child labour and child marriage.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on education across the world, with the closure of teaching institutions impacting an estimated 1.6 billion children and young people worldwide.
“As the Rohingya crisis becomes protracted, it is vital that education opportunities remain consistent and that pathways to learning are offered for all Rohingya children. Without education, refugee children living in the Cox’s Bazar camps are left with little opportunity to sustain themselves upon reaching adulthood. The IRC’s experience across the world shows that access to education has a positive impact for host nations as well as supporting the sustainable return of refugees when conditions are conducive.”
The IRC has been working to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh since 2017, providing healthcare, education and support to women and girls, as well addressing COVID-19 through the setting up of a Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Isolation and Treatment Centre in Cox’s Bazar, training of staff to distribute vaccines, and community health initiatives to address virus misinformation and promote COVID-19 prevention methods. In 2020, the IRC released a report detailing the urgent need for education for children, teenagers and youths in Cox’s Bazar.