Burmese language, and life skills. There were no textbooks, lesson plans, or any structured education at any of the learning centers for around 15 months after most children had arrived in Bangladesh, and minimal training for instructors. Lacking any curriculum, the learning centers offered poor-quality education, according to children, parents and teachers we interviewed in February 2019. Nur Faisel, 11, complained that at learning centers, “they’re only playing, not teaching!”95 A teacher at a learning center said that one of his subjects, “life skills,” consisted of “mak[ing] students aware of different types of diseases, or letting the kids play with some toys.”9° “The learning center is only for playing, not for education,” said Nur Kamal, 11.97 Many of the children whom Human Rights Watch interviewed who attended learning centers said they also attended privately-funded moktabsin the camps -— Islamic religious schools that teach Quranic memorization for 2 to 3 hours per day to 60 to 200 students — but some attended only moktabs.98 Mohamed Yasin, 11, said that unlike in learning centers, “in the moktab, there is no playing allowed.”99 The head ofa Rohingya refugee human rights group, Mohib Ullah, told Agence France Presse that the education offered in moktabs could help boys to become religious teachers and imams, but could not “prepare [children] to face the challenges of globalization.”*° A survey of parents’ attitudes to the education provided by NGOs in the camps, published in June 2018, reflected frustration at the “lack of learning materials” and of “ageappropriate / useful instruction” at learning centers.*° Osman O., a Rohingya teacher at a learning center in camp 7, remarked in February 2019, “These learning centers are providing 10 percent education and 90 percent life skills training, like how to wash your hands. This is not schooling.”*°2 Azida, a 12-year-old girl who had attended class 5 ata 95 Human Rights Watch interviews with Azida, Cox’s Bazar, February 14, 2019. 96 Human Rights Watch interview with Royes Uddin, learning center instructor, Cox’s Bazar, February 5, 2019. 97 Human Rights Watch group interviews with Nur Kamal, Cox’s Bazar, February 15, 2019. 98 Human Rights Watch group interviews with 12 children, Cox’s Bazar, February 12, 2019. 99 Human Rights Watch group interviews with Mohamad Yasin, Cox’s Bazar, February 15, 2019. 100 “Shut out from Bangladesh schools, Rohingya turn to madrassas,” AFP, July 19, 2019, https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/06/18/shut-out-from-bangladesh-schools-rohingyas-turn-tomadrassas/1763246 (accessed September 12, 2019). 101 Joint Education Needs Assessment, Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar, June 1, 2018, p. 18, https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/cxb_jena_assessme nt_report-180607.pdf (accessed June 2, 2019). 102 Human Rights Watch interview, Osman O. (a pseudonym), instructor at learning center, camp location withheld, Cox’s Bazar, February 7, 2019. 35 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2019