surveys conducted in the camps by the UN-led education sector. This report also draws on
data from surveys of Rohingya refugees conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The interviews were conducted with the help of interpreters. Some interviews were
translated by a Rohingya refugee who speaks English, while others were translated by a
Bangladeshi national who has worked as a translator for English-speakers and Rohingya
refugees since September 2017. Some Rohingya children spoke or wrote in English.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 46 Rohingya refugees in the camps who are working as
teachers. Of these, 33 were working at learning centers, and 6 as “home-based” teachers,
all of whom were using the English, Math, Burmese and Life Skills format approved by the
education sector. In addition, seven teachers worked as private tutors (Some of whom
also
worked at learning centers), and five worked as teachers at unofficial schools set up in the
camps. Nineteen of the teachers were interviewed privately or in group settings, while 25
were interviewed during Human Rights Watch visits to learning centers in the camps. Each
learning center we visited had one Rohingya and one Bangladeshi national working as
instructors. In each case, we spoke to both instructors, including the 25
Bangladeshi nationals.
Human Rights Watch visited two primary schools and a secondary school in Bangladeshi
communities in Cox’s Bazar, conducted brief group interviews with 45 students, and
interviewed teachers, vice-principals, and other staff. In addition, we interviewed the
senior Bangladeshi official responsible for secondary education in the district. The report
draws on Bangladesh government data about the school system in the district.
In Cox’s Bazar, we held meetings with 6 local and 5 international NGOs providing or
reporting on education or child protection, as well as UNICEF and UNHCR staff, and
interviewed the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, the government official in
charge of implementing Bangladesh’s policies and overseeing the camps. Outside Cox’s
Bazar, we met with representatives of4 donor government and multilateral funding
agencies, human rights groups with Rohingya diaspora civil society groups, UN agency
staff, and former members of the Cox’s Bazar education sector.
Human Rights Watch wrote to request the Bangladeshi authorities to respond to questions
based on our preliminary research findings in October 2019, but did not receive responses.
“ARE WE HUMAN?”
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