Returning to School or Dropping Out after the COVID-19 Closure? Survey Evidence from Rohingya Refugees and Host Communities in Bangladesh

PRIO Policy Brief

Gjerløw, Haakon; Jens Koning; Marte Nilsen & Gudrun Østby (2022) Returning to School or Dropping Out after the COVID-19 Closure? Survey Evidence from Rohingya Refugees and Host Communities in Bangladesh, PRIO Policy Brief, 19. Oslo: PRIO.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions in Bangladesh closed fully or partially for 82 weeks. Bangladesh is home to one of the world’s largest refugee camps, with a population of approximately 900,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, at least 50% of whom are younger than 18. Rohingya children in Bangladesh are banned from accessing formal education and are instead offered classes in basic literacy and numeracy at NGO-run learning centres. These learning centres were closed during the lockdown. Drawing on new survey data, this brief explores the extent to which refugee and host-community children in the Cox’s Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh risk permanently discontinuing educational services even after the reopening of schools and learning centres.

Authors

Haakon Gjerløw

Haakon Gjerløw

Senior Researcher

Jens Koning

Jens Koning

Research Assistant

Marte Nilsen

Marte Nilsen

Senior Researcher

Gudrun Østby

Gudrun Østby

Research Professor

Returning to School or Dropping Out after the COVID-19 Closure? Survey Evidence from Rohingya Refugees and Host Communities in Bangladesh
ISBN: 978-82-343-0427-9