Hopes abound as Myanmar curriculum reaches Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, Education, Help Refugees, Human Rights, Myanmar, Refugees Issues, Religious Rights

Rohingya children living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are progressing with their Myanmar education, with the arrival of new textbooks setting a government and UN-backed program on course to prepare the hundreds of thousands of children for a future return to their home country.

Around 400,000 school-aged children are among more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims living in the fishing port in southeastern Bangladesh who had sought refuge in the neighboring country after fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar.

The refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are now host to 3,400 informal learning centers run by UN agencies and aid partners, which provide basic education to over 300,000 students.

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Bangladeshi authorities and the UN launched the Myanmar Curriculum Pilot project last November, a program aimed at preparing Rohingya children for a future return to their country. It was stalled for one year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The MCP was launched in November 2021. UNICEF aims to scale up in phases so that by 2023, all school-aged children are taught through the Myanmar curriculum,” Moyukh Mahtab, UNICEF spokesperson based in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, told Arab News.

The arrival of new textbooks this week marked the beginning of the formal education portion of the project, with more detailed lessons now becoming part of their routine after previously receiving only basic education and general knowledge. With the pilot project, UNICEF hopes to enroll at least 10,000 children by the end of this month.