After the influx of refugees in August 2017, the government of Bangladesh “hesitated to
include education support in its humanitarian operations to Rohingya children and youth
in camps, for fear that such support could stimulate [a] further influx of people,” according
to a multilateral funder’s assessment.” There is no available evidence for such an
assumption, such as cases of Rohingya who were drawn to Bangladesh primarily for its
education system rather than being forced to flee there due to military attacks, torture,
rape and murder. In October 2017, the National Task Force set down its policy that newlyarrived Rohingya children may receive only “informal” education and no instruction
in Bengali.78
The policy to allow “informal” education for Rohingya children means that learning centers
in the camps may not teach a formal curriculum and are not certified. The policy also
means that Rohingya children “are not entitled to enroll in government-accredited schools
[outside the refugee camps], nor can they sit for the Primary School Certificate exam.”79 An
assessment commissioned by UNHCR of its response to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis
noted that “the Government’s refusal to allow the Bangladesh curriculum ora formal ...
education to be taught has led to a situation where there is effectively no formal education
for the hundreds of thousands of school age children.”®
The government’s current refugee education policy, as stated in the Guideline on Informal
Education Program (GIEP) from May 5, 2019, insists that Rohingya will soon return
to Myanmar:
77 Global Partnership for Education, Grants and Performance Committee Meeting, September 17, 2018, GPC/2018/09 DOC 02,
“Annex 2: Quality Assurance Review — Phase 3,” p. 3,
https://www.globalpartnership.org/sites/default/files/gpc-2018-09-doc_o2_-_bangladesh_accelerated_funding_proposalen_no_pd.pdf (accessed July 26, 2019).
78 UNICEF, Evaluation of UNICEF's Response to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Bangladesh, Vol. 1, November 2018, p. 41,
https://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/UNICEF-Rohingya_Response_Evaluation_VOLUME_|-2018-003.pdf
(accessed July 27, 2019). The education sector cites a “Ministry of Foreign Affairs directive on Dec. 29th 2017” as the basis
for restricting education to “informal” instruction in “the basics of English, Burmese, General Knowledge, Math and Science.
Cox’s Bazar Education Sector, “Guidance Note: Education Sector Standards for Rohingya Refugee Response,” May 1, 2018, p.
3, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/guidance_note_for_education_sector_standards_v_1.o0.pdf
(accessed July 15, 2018).
79 Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, March-December 2018, p. 19.
80 UNHCR, Independent assessment of UNHCR’s emergency response to the Rohingya refugee influx in Bangladesh, August
2017- September 2018, December 2018, p. 81, https://www.unhcr.org/5c811b464.pdf (accessed July 23, 2019).
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2019