Rohingya children in Bangladesh camps face limited education, with overcrowded schools and funding cuts stalling dreams of becoming pilots or doctors
COX’S BAZAR: Children in Bangladesh’s vast refugee camps still dream of becoming pilots, doctors or engineers. Their teacher Mohammad Amin said he does not know if they will ever reach their goals with the limited opportunities available.
Around half a million children live in the camps housing Rohingya who have escaped Myanmar. Many fled during a brutal military crackdown in 2017, which is now the subject of a genocide case at the United Nations’ top court.
In the aftermath, international aid groups rushed to open schools. The Bangladeshi government, however, opposed enrolling Rohingya children in national schools and barred them from studying in Bangla.
By 2024, UNICEF and its partners were running more than 6,500 learning centres educating up to 300,000 children. The system is now severely overstretched, a situation worsened by cuts to US aid under President Donald Trump.
“The current system provides three hours of instruction per day for children,” said Faria Selim of UNICEF. She stated the daily contact hours are not enough.
Khin Maung of the United Council of Rohingya said the education leaves students ill-prepared to re-enter Myanmar’s school system. “There is a severe shortage of teachers in the camps,” he said.
Hashim Ullah is the only teacher at a primary school run by an aid agency. “I teach Burmese language, mathematics, science and life skills to 65 students in two shifts,” he told AFP. He added that he is not an expert in all subjects.
For parents, education represents their children’s only escape from risks like malnutrition or trafficking. Some families supplement aid-run schools with extra classes organised by their own community.
“At dawn and dusk, older children go to community-based high schools,” said father-of-seven Jamil Ahmad. He covers the modest tuition fee by selling part of his monthly food rations.
Fifteen-year-old Hamima Begum attends both an aid-run school and a community high school. “I want to go to college,” she said. “I am aiming to study human rights, justice, and peace.”
Such schools are far too few to meet demand, especially for older children. A 2024 assessment found school attendance falls from about 70% among younger children to less than 20% for those aged 15 to 18.
Girls are particularly badly affected, according to the study. Academic standards also remain low for those who stay enrolled.
“We organised a mid-year exam this year, and 75 percent of high school students failed,” Khin Maung said.
Jaitun Ara, 19, is an exception after securing a place at the Asian University for Women. She doubts many others will be able to follow her path. “Families can barely manage food,” she said. “How would they spend money on their children’s education?”
