Against the odds of displacement, a record 3 lakh children are enrolled for the 2023-24 school year in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, reports UNICEF in a statement yesterday. The UN agency observed that despite fires burning down learning centres and wrath of Cyclone Mocha, classrooms in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh were filled up with children. On the first day of school, the children were excited. Thanks to expanded education opportunities for teenagers and girls, a record enrollment has become possible.

The new academic year marks the first time that Rohingya refugee children of all ages will be studying under the Myanmar Curriculum. Rohingya refugee children want to learn and turn their hopes and dreams for a better future to actual potential, said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.

According to the statement, efforts to support adolescent girls to continue their education are key to the record attendance this year.

The press release said, one million refugees – half of them children – have lived in the densely populated camps in Bangladesh since 2017 when they fled violence and persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.

Education for Rohingya refugee children is provided through 3,400 learning centres – 2,800 of which are supported by UNICEF – as well as through community-based learning facilities.