Protecting Rohingya refugees’ education in emergency

Dil Afrose Duetee :

The United Nations General Assembly designated 9 September as International Day to Protect Education.

This day highlights the suffering endured as a result of attacks on education and called for all states to endorse and implement the Safe education.

As above all, states have a responsibility to protect schools and children’s right to learn, no matter what the circumstances are; war, military attack, natural disasters, forcible flee or anything else.

For children in emergencies, education is something more than the right to learn. Schools or emergency learning centers protect children from abuse and exploitation.

Emergency educational settings also provide children with lifesaving food and water, health and hygiene care, psychosocial support and moreover help them to cope with the trauma they experienced and experiences.

Thus protecting education in emergency should be a prime focus for all the states.

But unfortunately, despite the enormous benefits to children, societies and entire countries, education is often the first service suspended and the last to be restored during crisis.

In recent years, the most pathetic education in emergency situation emerged when hundreds of thousands of terrified Rohingya refugees began flooding onto the beaches and paddy fields of southern Bangladesh in August 2017 with almost 60 per cent children.

This huge number of kids brought with them accounts of the unspeakable violence and brutality that had forced them to flee.

Bangladesh Government along with the national and international NGOs immediately provided food, water, sanitation, shelter and health service to handle the emergency situation and again traditionally education was the least priority for the Rohingya refugees.

Just after the instantly provided services, Unicef took initiative along with other development agencies to endow with emergency education services for the traumatized Rohingya refugee children in camps of Cox’s Bazar.

In 2018, the “Learning Competency Framework Approach” (LCFA) was introduced as the very first initiative of the protecting education for Rohingya refugees in emergency situation.

It was an immediate measure to provide the Rohingya children and youth with a pathway to education in an emergency, given the limitations in the camp context.

It covered levels one to four including the content areas: Language (English and Myanmar Language), Math, Science, and Life Skills and caters primarily to children aged 4-14.

Due to the unfortunate long process of repatriation, In January 2020 the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) approved formal education of the Rohingya community through Myanmar Curriculum (MC) in the camps to protect the right of education in Rohigya refugee emergency.

The above discussed long process was the cordial and smart initiatives supported by Bangladesh to protect education for the disadvantaged Rohingya refugee children.

But the effectiveness of these initiatives was crucially hampered by some unavoidable issues and concerns. Protecting education in emergency lacks of clear policy and protocols.

Though the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) provides a humanitarian and development framework to ensure education in emergency, Bangladesh still lacks expert in this sector to implement the framework.

Along with this, the other challenges in protecting education for the rohingya refugee children are: structural and legal barriers, language barrier, lack of efficient teachers, insufficient curriculum experts specially focused on protecting education, congested camp area in Cox’s Bazar, Religious prejudices of Rohingya community, absence of certification, less resources, short term project based initiatives and last but not the least visionary guidance from the education experts in Bangladesh.

One of the main issues concerning protecting education for Rohingya children is the government’s policy, which denies them formal education opportunities due to their refugee status.

Bangladesh government is opposing to providing permanent structures in the camps, as they anticipate the refugees’ safe return to Myanmar as soon as possible.

However, the government acknowledges that education is essential to empower refugee children and started providing formal Myanmar curriculum with temporary settings.

Despite being neither a signatory to neither the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 protocol, Bangladesh has limitations to provide refugees with formal education and economic inclusion, rather offering indistinguishable commitments for their future.

Protecting education for the Rohingya refugee children, it is crucial to have well-trained and properly equipped teachers.

Pedagogical and classroom management skills to deliver in the unique camp context are also much important especially for education in emergency along with the mainstream child-friendly and inclusive teaching practices.

This requires priority and support at both the policy and operational levels.

The concern is the mother tongue of Rohingya teachers and students is the Rohingya dialect, not the Myanmar language.

Thus the language barrier affects the teaching expertise. Also the Rohingya teachers appointed in the camps are not capable satisfactorily due to their lack of opportunities both in Myanmar and refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Both the newly recruited and experienced teaching staff needs cross-cultural training to conceptualize and encounter the needs of helpless children in the refugee context.

Curriculum development is the fundamental aspect that focuses on teaching, funding, and management methods based on the political changes, and labour market trends.

However, the camp started implementing Myanmar curriculum though it is facing so many challenges like absence of English version textbooks, experienced teachers and teachers’ guides, proper training plan to implement the curriculum, enrollment of students in proper grades, transition from LCFA to Myanmar curriculum, remedial learning needs of weak students, subject experts in higher grades and so on.
Protecting education needs an in-depth and customized operational mode.

When state and other factors consider this as only extemporary service then it becomes a mess and loss the exquisiteness of education in emergency.

Education and skill-building are vital for effectively managing the Rohingya refugee children and achieving practical, long-lasting solutions. The number of refugee children in the Bangladesh camps is around 400,000 , and it is the responsibility of the host country to provide educational facilities for their future well-being, as recommended by international law for refugees (Article 22) that mandates equal opportunities for refugee and local children.

Continuous operation rather than project based initiative is crucial to ensure better educational opportunities for Rohingya refugee children.

Education has a significant impact on the socialization and integration of Rohingya refugee children, empowering them to rebuild their community and society with knowledge and hope.

Education is an asset that will stay with them even after their repatriation, and it is the responsibility of the Bangladesh government and international community to provide Rohingya refugee children with opportunities to enhance their thoughts, widen their prospects, and support their communities’ growth and development.

As a humanitarian state, the Government of Bangladesh needs to take the lead in the process of protecting the future of Rohingya refugee children.

(Dil Afrose Duetee, M Phil is a
development activist).