By: Camp Correspondent
Rohingya Refugee Camps, Bangladesh — 3 July 2025
A devastating collapse in education services has left nearly 300,000 Rohingya children in refugee camps across Cox’s Bazar without access to learning, after more than 6,400 informal learning centers were shut down due to funding cuts.
The closures have sparked alarm among refugee families, educators, and humanitarian organizations, who warn that an entire generation of stateless children is being pushed further into poverty, vulnerability, and despair.
“In the past, my son attended class every morning,” said a father from Camp 12. “Now he just sits at home and asks when his school will reopen. I have no answer.”
The shutdowns, triggered by drastic reductions in international aid, have eliminated one of the few lifelines available to Rohingya youth, most of whom were born and raised in the camps since fleeing Myanmar in 2017. For many, education was their only hope for a better future.
Now, children spend their days in overcrowded shelters or wandering aimlessly, exposed to growing threats of child labor, early marriage, trafficking, and recruitment into criminal networks.
“My dream was to be a teacher,” said a 14-year-old Rohingya girl. “But now I fear I’ll be married off soon. My parents say they don’t have any other choice.”
The long-term implications are severe. Without basic literacy and skills, hundreds of thousands of children risk growing up trapped in dependency, deepening the humanitarian crisis and increasing the likelihood of social unrest within the camps and beyond.
For years, the Bangladeshi government has prohibited formal education in the camps, allowing only informal learning centers with a basic curriculum. Now, even those centers have been dismantled, leaving children and parents in despair.
With more than half of the refugee population under 18, aid workers warn that this is no longer just an education emergency—it is a regional crisis in the making.
“We’re not just talking about schools. We’re talking about the future of a displaced people,” said an education program coordinator working in Cox’s Bazar. “Without urgent action, the consequences will be long-lasting and far-reaching.”
Humanitarian groups are calling for urgent measures:
- Immediate restoration of funding for education programs in the camps
- Permission to implement the Myanmar national curriculum in exile, in line with global standards
- Regional collaboration between Bangladesh, ASEAN, and international partners
- The creation of a dedicated global education fund for Rohingya children
This crisis goes beyond classrooms—it strikes at the heart of human dignity and the right to hope. If these children are denied the chance to learn today, the cost will not only be measured in lost dreams, but in generations of futures undone.
