RIGNT OF EDUCATION FOR ROHINGYA CHILDREN

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In the refugee camps of Bangladesh, children wake each day to circumstances that are wholly unfit for any child in the world: no safety, no stability, no routine. For many people, life has been defined by loss, trauma and displacement. However, although there are many challenges above, education is a shining light and a pathway out of one's origins. In the Rohingya refugee crisis, more than a million refugees, primarily women and children, have fled to safety in Bangladesh; education is not just a humanitarian need; it is a necessary step for rebuilding their lives.

The right to education is a fundamental human right for all children, including those in refugee situations. Article 28 of the UNCRC, which Bangladesh is a signatory of, guarantees the right to free and compulsory primary education for every child, regardless of nationality or origin. Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) recognizes education as essential for maintaining human dignity and social equality. Yet, for refugee children, the road to good education is fraught with challenges.

The camps in Cox's Bazar, the world's largest refugee settlement, have been home to more than a million Rohingya refugees since the start of unrest in Myanmar in 2017. However, the growing number of refugees and the challenges of providing adequate education for these children have raised many questions. Despite considerable efforts by Bangladesh to provide refugee children with an education and meet their educational needs more broadly, enormous challenges persist.  

In 2020, the UNHCR estimated that more than 40% per cent of all refugee children in Bangladesh were not in school. The conditions to learn were sorely lacking for those who did have access to education. Unofficial estimates indicate that overcrowding presents a serious challenge in refugee camps, including Cox's Bazar — a refugee camp with the highest student-to-classroom ratio—and inadequate classroom space to accommodate the growing number of students. According to the international charity Save the Children, there are approximately 330,000 Rohingya refugee children of school age in Bangladesh, but fewer than 50 per cent are receiving an education in formal classrooms.

The challenges are severe, but the rewards of education for refugee children in the long term are both immediate and intergenerational, affecting both the children and society as a whole. Above all, education gives children a sense of routine and stability in an upheaval world. It nurtures a sense of meaningfulness and the ability to imagine a future beyond current situations.

One significant element for offsetting vulnerabilities is education. Due to this non-attendance in schools, the refugee children are at an increased risk of child labour, exploitation and abuse. Lack of access to schooling often puts young girls at risk of early marriage or trafficking. As the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) explains: "The longer girls stay in school, the less likely they are to marry before the age of 18; education can reduce the odds of child marriage by as much as 80 per cent." You can kill two birds with one stone in providing education: not only saving millions of young migrants but also making them future-proof and becoming beneficial to yourself.

Education of refugee children reaps long-term benefits for society. We are investing in the future to give a lost generation a chance to rebuild their lives and help the economy. Economic modelling predicts that for every year of educational attainment achieved by refugees, there is a $35 billion increase in their total economic impact globally over their lifetimes.

Educational opportunity Refugee children in Bangladesh have shown remarkable progress. Supported by international agencies such as UNHCR and UNICEF, the Learning Competency Framework (LCF) developed by the Ministry of Education has built over 3,000 learning centres in refugee settlements, including Cox's Bazar. They provide educational services to refugees aged 4–18, focusing on improving literacy, numeracy and vocational skills via formal and informal curricula.

In 2020, about 250,000 Rohingya children attended educational centres, and they studied Bangla and English, along with mathematics and science. Yet the number of youngsters enrolled in the scheme is still well below the general need. Such demand must be met with continuous investment in educational infrastructure, educator training, and psychosocial support.

Yet challenges remain over the level of education being provided. Many schools are overcrowded, with insufficient textbooks, instructional resources, and learning environments. The other issue is that even though many refugee and local educators have been tapped and trained, few are adequately trained to teach effectively.

Bangladesh provides refugees with more formal education than many other host countries, but investment needs to increase to secure sustainable success. The government of Bangladesh, together with the international donor community, must continue to broaden access to education for refugee children while addressing overcrowded classrooms and poor quality of education. Children need trauma-informed education programs to mitigate mental scars and make learning possible.

 

The international community should not forget Bangladesh and must reassess their priorities that education for refugee children is a priority. We need welfare as a global community for our children through money and resources because we know education is the backbone of every nation. The United Nations seeks $24 billion to aid refugees and internally displaced people worldwide, much of the cash focused on education.

Quality education is a key to a better future for millions of refugee children. The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh is more than just a humanitarian issue; providing quality education to those displaced from their homes, income and families through violence and oppression is becoming known as the key to sustaining a prosperous future for a population and the country providing shelter. More funding to offer education opportunities for these young people will help them rebuild their lives and will ensure their integration into Bangladesh's future as it grows.

In this context, education is not just a right; it is an essential resource—a means to break the cycle of exile, poverty, and hardship. Refugee children are not just victims of their situation; they are tomorrow's leaders, workers, and change agents. When properly educated, individuals have the ability to change their lives and, in turn, change their world.

Article by Tareq Abedin Siraji, a student at the Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh.