The importance placed on the Myanmar curriculum is something that Rohingya teachers and parents repeatedly stress. The refugees want to return to their homeland in Myanmar and they fear that if Rohingya children are not updated on the curriculum in Myanmar, or are not able to speak or read Burmese, they will lose out and be deprived of opportunities once they return. In this film we meet a Rohingya teacher and his students. By raising three fingers in a salute in his statement on wanting to return home to Myanmar, he links the struggle of the Rohingya to the larger anti-dictatorship movement in Myanmar.
Film production: Mirzan & Roshid Mubarak Research direction: Marte Nilsen
Rohingya refugees make films about their struggle for education
In PRIO’s EducAid project, we have invited Rohingya refugees to create a series of six short documentary films on the complex challenges refugees face in their quest for education. The young film makers have interviewed community teachers, young students and their parents to let them speak their mind about dreams, aspirations and the importance of education for their community.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are denied access to formal education. Humanitarian organizations can provide some basic learning, but Rohingya children and youths want to exercise their right to quality education. Without education, they see no future.
Rohingya teachers and former university students have organized schools and private tutoring to meet the needs of the community, but they face persecution and harassment from the authorities for their efforts.
It has been five years since more than 700 000 Rohingya people had to flee from the brutal massacres by the military in Myanmar and Rohingya parents are deeply concerned about the future of their children.
