Emergency Education for Rohingya Refugee Children in Bangladesh: An analysis of the policies, practices and limitations

More than one million Rohingya from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh as refugees over the last forty years. Currently, around 800,000 Rohingya are living in two registered refugee camps as well as in the makeshift settlements around Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh. Among the Rohingya refugee community around 50% are children. The majority of these refugee children do not have access to educational opportunities. A number of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh are offering non-formal educational opportunities to refugee children in both registered camps and makeshift settlements. The main objective of this study is to analyze these non-formal education policies and practices as well as explore the limitations of emergency education (EE) for Rohingya refugee children during this time of great transition and flux. This research is based on fieldwork conducted in mid-2018. The situation in the camps for the Rohingya refugees is precarious due to overcrowding, disease, lack of suitable shelter and prevailing weather conditions, and facilitating education in these circumstances is particularly challenging. This study reveals that despite some challenges, EE is assisting in addressing psycho-social issues for Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh.