Rohingya camps: Support community learning
At least 25 national and international rights bodies and civil society organisations have made an urgent call for the government to support the community-led learning facilities in Cox's Bazar's Rohingya refugee camps.
They demanded that the authorities strengthen their resources in line with the country's international commitment to protect children's right to education, they said in a joint statement yesterday.
Among the 3,000 informal learning centres, about 30 community-led schools have been shut down or dismantled by the authorities since December 2021, on the grounds that they don't maintain the standards of education and hamper the activities of authorised schools.
The statement said the existing learning centres authorised by the government and operated by Unicef and other humanitarian partners offer education to children from four to 14 years of age but leave out the older age groups, some of whom were about to take their matriculation examination at the time of the exodus in 2017.
In January 2020, the government made a promise to introduce the Myanmar curriculum to about 10,000 children from grades sixth to ninth. The closure of community learning facilities is detrimental to the community's development and a gross violation of children's right to education, read the statement.
It also mentioned that there are nearly half a million Rohingya children in Bangladesh, who are deprived of education in an accredited curriculum since their refuge in August 2017.
"Access to education and other human rights of the Rohingya refugees are as critical as the battle for justice and accountability for the crimes committed against the Rohingya people," it said.
ActionAid, Amnesty International, Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Human Rights Watch, Manusher Jonno Foundation, European Rohingya Council, Fortify Rights, Robert F Kennedy Human Rights and Burma Campaign UK signed the statement among other organisations.
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