Rohingya families say rising education costs and reported pressure on community-run learning centres are making it harder for children to continue their studies.
by RK Desk
Kyauktaw, Arakan State, 5 September 2026: Rohingya families in Kyauktaw say growing education costs and pressure on community-run learning centres are creating new barriers for children already facing years of restricted access to formal schooling.
Rohingya students in Kyauktaw have faced serious restrictions on education since the violence of 2012. Amnesty International previously documented that Muslim students in Kyauktaw and several other townships were largely prevented from attending mixed middle and high schools after the violence.
In response, Rohingya communities established their own schools and relied heavily on volunteer teachers to keep children in education.
Families now say those community-based systems are under increasing strain.
Under a fee plan reported earlier this year, families in Kyauktaw are being asked to contribute 10,000 Myanmar kyats per month for primary students, 20,000 kyats for middle-school students and 30,000 kyats for high-school students.
The fees are intended to support registered teachers assigned under the local education system, according to previous reporting and community sources.
For low-income Rohingya families, the additional cost can be difficult to manage, particularly when several children from the same household attend school.
“Our children have already lost many years of education,” one Rohingya parent told Rohingya Khobor. “If education becomes too expensive or difficult to access, many families will have no choice but to stop sending their children to school.”
Alongside community schools, local residents say alternative learning centres have emerged in recent years to provide general education and religious studies outside the main school system.
One such initiative, Leipyar Education Donation, is reportedly providing non-formal education for Rohingya children and attempting to create pathways for students to continue higher grades.
Local residents, however, allege that education officials operating under the Arakan administration have recently put pressure on the centre and questioned its activities.
Rohingya Khobor could not independently verify the allegations or obtain a response from the relevant education authorities.
Residents said concerns about the centre had been raised with the United League of Arakan (ULA), but no response had been received at the time of reporting.
Community members fear that if alternative learning spaces are restricted while formal education becomes more expensive, children from poorer families could be pushed out of general education altogether.
“We are not against education or the new system,” another Rohingya resident said. “We only want our children to have equal opportunities. Education should not become something that only families with money can afford.”
The concerns come amid a wider education crisis across Arakan State, where years of conflict and displacement have damaged schools, interrupted classes and reduced access to teachers and learning materials.
For Rohingya families in Kyauktaw, the immediate concern is whether children can continue studying without financial or administrative barriers forcing them out of school.
