Amid tension and grief at Balukhali Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila, a buzz of claps and loud rhyming from small children can be heard from a tent as part of their schooling.
As many Rohingyas are still fleeing into Bangladesh from Myanmar since August 25, Unicef and Bangladesh government are jointly working on providing basic education to the children of the camps as well as handling other important issues.
After a long and challenging journey, a large number of Rohingya children arrived here with their parents.
The tramatised children were seen smiling and enjoying their lessons at the camps.
At Balukhali camp, there are seven such schools in total under the banner of ‘Temporary Child Learning Center for New Arrivals’ set up by Unicef and Mukti, where the children are taught Burmese and English languages primarily, said Khairul Rashid, a Burmese language teacher from Jibongkhali village of Mongdongpara.
There are 10 Burmese language teachers who are teaching the children here in three batches — from 9am to 11am, from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 4pm — while each teacher teaches about 105 children a day, he added.
As the children do not have any book, according to Khairul, books and educational materials will be provided by Unicef on Saturday.
Earlier on September 29, Unicef announced its plan to establish more than 1,300 new learning centres for Rohingya children who have fled Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Unicef is currently running 182 learning centres at Rohingya camps and makeshift settlements in Cox’s Bazar, and has enrolled 15,000 children. It plans to increase the number of learning centres to 1,500, to reach 200,000 children over the next year.
Along with English and Burmese languages, children also learn life skills in the schools.
Over a quarter of a million Rohingya children have fled Myanmar into Cox’s Bazar since August 25.
