Bangladesh

In the slums of Cox's Bazar, extreme poverty forces thousands of children to work to support their families. As a result, they face financial and practical barriers to attending school.

In the Doharazi Enclaves, Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who have moved away from the larger crowded camps are cut off from education and basic services.

Children on the Edge offer education for 1,400 children in Cox's Bazar and the Doharazi Enclaves through 28 Community Schools. Flexible classes allow access to quality learning, creativity and play for those who face practical and financial barriers to attending school.

Ten year old Nisha is watering plants outside her Learning Centre in Kutupalong. She is wearing bright pink.

ARAFAT is 14 years old and studies at a Community School in Cox’s Bazar. The school is free to attend and Arafat is given all the learning materials he needs.

He lives with his brother, father and stepmother. Arafat works every afternoon to help support his family by selling betel nuts, along with cooking for his parents while they are at work. All the money he earns goes to his father who then gives some to his mother, who lives separately.

Arafat attends our school in the mornings and loves to study. Maths lessons at school have helped him understand how to calculate and learn the value of money and he is now confident with addition, subtraction and multiplication.

He says that he doesn’t want to live his life as a labourer, like his parents. He wants to be a ‘good human being’ and ‘learn about the world’.

Arafat’s mother said: “I am uneducated, but I realise that school is a blessing for my child".

THE EDGE IN BANGLADESH

Scene of Kutupalong mega camp shortly after the August 2017 genocide. Photo shows miles of hastily constructed tents of sticks, mud and plastic and a small boy carrying a a slatted piece of wall. You can click the image to be taken to a separate piece about the Rohingya.

In Bangladesh, poverty is at a level where there are as many as 3.45 million working children.
Slum dwelling children in Cox’s Bazar face financial and practical barriers to attending mainstream school and commonly have to work to contribute to the income of their families.
The magnitude, longevity and escalation of the Rohingya refugee crisis has also placed an additional burden on host communities.
Faced with harassment, lack of opportunities, and the threat of deportation, many Rohingya refugees have moved inland from the heavily-monitored border to ‘enclave communities’ in the Doharazi area.
Children in both Cox's Bazar and the Doharazi enclaves are in danger of exploitation, trafficking and growing up without any chance of an education.

WHAT WE DO TO HELP

Working with our partner organisation, Mukti Cox’s Bazar, we offer flexible education and support for slum dwelling children in Cox's Bazar and Doharazi Enclave communities, who cannot access mainstream education. 28 Community Schools (18 in Cox’s Bazar and 10 in the Doharazi Enclaves) enable 1,400 children to benefit from a quality curriculum, taught in colourful classrooms, with a focus on rights and creativity.

Over a hundred children each year progress to Grade 5, take national exams and are awarded with Primary Education Certificates, enabling them to progress in mainstream education. A day a week is set aside for play, self expression and the care of beautiful gardens that surround each centre. Importantly, classes are flexibly timed to enable access for working children.

Teachers are trained from within the community, so children are taught by trusted, familiar adults who understand their situation.

Image shows the school garden with a big show of yellow flowers at the front and a set of swings in the background. There are around 10 students shown playing in the garden near the flowers. They are all wearing a red and white school uniform. Three children are swinging on the swings and one is skipping with a rope. The sun is shining and the rest of the garden is surrounded by a fence and lush vegetation.

The Community Schools have colourful gardens, which the students help to take care of

Daily digital lessons bring learning alive and the creation of ‘Moja Kids’ - an online platform where the children record video newsletters and share them back and forth with Rohingya children in the Kutupalong camp - has been an exciting addition.

In 2020’s AbilityNet Tech4Good awards, our digital education programme was chosen for the Lenovo Education Award, recognising outstanding digital achievement in education.

Children participate in Child Councils within the schools. These provide a space where children can give their opinions and suggestions about how the programme is being run, talk about issues that are affecting them, learn about their rights and communicate them to their friends and families.

The Community Schools are enthusiastically supported by local communities and government officials. Their development over ten years has led to the creation of a best practice model, which is used to maintain standards in our work with Rohingya refugee children.