Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees and the Politics of Refugee Education in Bangladesh

The research examines how Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh mitigate the ban on formal education through two primary resources: community-led education networks and online learning platforms. The authors document the operation of 27 community-organized networks that utilized the Myanmar curriculum to teach thousands of children, as well as the rise of digital education via YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook. The study highlights a tension between the restrictive policies of the Government of Bangladesh and the aspirations of refugees to maintain a cultural and linguistic link to Myanmar. It concludes that humanitarian agencies should better engage with these untapped community resources to improve educational outcomes and reach marginalized groups, such as adolescent girls.

• The Government of Bangladesh has banned formal education for Rohingya refugees, viewing their stay as temporary and expecting a return to Myanmar.
• Between March and April 2019, the researchers identified 27 community-organized education networks involving over 370 teachers providing private instruction to approximately 9,850 children and youths in the Cox's Bazar District.
• Community-led networks prioritize the Myanmar government curriculum to ensure students can reintegrate into Myanmar schools upon repatriation and maintain their identity as Myanmar citizens.
• On December 8, 2021, camp authorities and the humanitarian Education Sector decided to ban all shelter-based teaching and shut down community-led schools, leading to the demolition of school buildings and closure of mosques used for instruction.
• Rohingya youths and teachers have increasingly turned to digital platforms—primarily YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook—to provide and access education, especially during COVID-19 lockdowns.
• Online learning tools are particularly effective for reaching adolescent girls and young women who face cultural restrictions on moving outside their shelters.
• Advanced learners utilize global platforms like Coursera and the Exam Preparation Outreach Program (EPOP) to study social sciences and human rights, though many struggle with the high level of academic English and poor connectivity.
• There is a significant gap between humanitarian NGO-run learning centers and community-led initiatives, with refugees often viewing NGO materials as non-formal and insufficient for professional success.
• Humanitarian agencies lack sufficient teachers with Burmese language proficiency, a gap that could be filled by engaging the existing network of qualified community teachers.

APA

NILSEN, M., OLNEY, J., MAUNG, K., KARIM, L., AHMAD, S., HAQUE, N., & MUBARAK, H. R. (n.d.). Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees and the Politics of Refugee Education in Bangladesh. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d7adf179-b6ac-46a7-beb3-08812aa17fe3/FINAL 230604 Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees - Submitted 1.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

NILSEN, MARTE, JESSICA OLNEY, KHIN MAUNG, LUCKY KARIM, SHABBIR AHMAD, NURUL HAQUE, and H. ROSHID MUBARAK. Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees and the Politics of Refugee Education in Bangladesh. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d7adf179-b6ac-46a7-beb3-08812aa17fe3/FINAL 230604 Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees - Submitted 1.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{nilsenndcommunityled, author = {NILSEN, MARTE and OLNEY, JESSICA and MAUNG, KHIN and KARIM, LUCKY and AHMAD, SHABBIR and HAQUE, NURUL and MUBARAK, H. ROSHID}, title = {{Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees and the Politics of Refugee Education in Bangladesh}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d7adf179-b6ac-46a7-beb3-08812aa17fe3/FINAL 230604 Community-led Education among Rohingya Refugees - Submitted 1.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }