About two-third inhabitants of Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps are Rohingya children who are experiencing an unthinkable childhood.
The cultural system made “education” as one of the basic needs of human being and an essential component to participate meaningfully in life.
In an interview with Anadolu, a Rohingya teen girl named Ruksana Khatun (13) who escape the genocidal purge along with her family in August 2017, said she enrolled in a primary school in Bangladesh also known as TLC ( Temporary Learning Centre ) a year ago.
Khatun said, “I attended a camp-based learning center and completed my primary level of education one year ago.”
“Now I have no way to continue my education because there is no institution of higher learning here.” The recent fire in camps razed down everything including learning centers.
“Sometimes, I read my previous books at home, but nothing is left now because the fire destroyed our entire house, ” she added.
In the earlier days, TLC & CFS (Child Friendly Space) for children was governed by NGOs such as CODEC, BRAC, SAVE the Children, MUKTI, and so. In the preliminary stage, TLC’s aim was to focus on three basic subjects: English, Math, and Burmese. This curriculum was appropriated for children aged between 5 to 10 years which denotes to primary schooling.
Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told Anadolu, “Yes, there are no opportunities for higher education for Rohingya people because they are not citizens of this country.”
“They should return to their country because they are Myanmar’s displaced people,” he said, asserting that this is the only long-term solution to the crisis.
The government’s primary goal is to ensure their safe and dignified return to their homeland, he added. The government has provided primary-level education according to the Myanmar syllabus, and providing higher education to Rohingya is not the host country’s mandate, he said, adding that it is practically impossible.
Rahman said, adding that “We are extremely grateful to the government of Bangladesh for allowing the Myanmar curriculum to be used for the education of the Rohingya children.”
He noted that providing quality education for such a large number of refugee children is a huge challenge because there are not enough qualified teachers in the Rohingya community to teach them in Myanmar’s language.
“And we don’t have that much space to provide the segregated class or space for the students,” he underlined, adding that Bangladesh believes these people will return and enjoy their rights in their home country.
“Until then (repatriation), we are attempting to provide education and engage these people in productive activities through various technical and vocational training within our limited livelihood projects in the camps,” said the host country’s top refugee official.
For the lack of education and job opportunities, many Rohingya tries to flee the crowded camps or get involved in trafficking, whereas most of the Rohingyas are looking forward to return to their homeland.
