By Syedul Mostafa, Executive Director of the Rohingya Youth Advocacy Network
In 2012, when I was still living in Rakhine State, Myanmar, I was about to start Grade Six when a lockdown in our area stopped me from going to school. Violence between ethnic communities had erupted, and as a result, all Rohingya schools were closed. This was not a one-off incident – for decades, Rohingya people in Myanmar have faced extremely harsh and arbitrary restrictions on access to education.
Since I could no longer attend school, I had no choice but to work on a farm. A year later, I still watched jealously as my friends from other ethnic communities went to school every morning.
One day, my 65-year-old father — a farmer who had never completed his schooling — told me something that changed my life:
“Even a little education is better than a lifetime of farming. When I chose this path at your age, I didn’t realize it would stay with me even at 65 years old. Win yourself through education. Do something meaningful for your life and for your community. We Rohingya face many crises — and only through education, courage, and unity can we overcome them.”
A Lifelong Struggle for Education
In 2014, I was finally able to return to school — but it didn’t last long. Between 2016 and 2017, amid another wave of violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, I became one of nearly 800,000 people forced to flee to Bangladesh as refugees.
Today, I still live in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. I am grateful to be safe — but I am still not a graduate.
Here in the camps, many Rohingya children study under the Myanmar curriculum in learning centres led by Rohingya educators. We are deeply appreciative of the NGOs, UN agencies, and community volunteers who make this possible. However, most education remains informal and unrecognized, leaving students without formal certificates or qualifications. Recent cuts to international aid have made this challenge even greater.
Education is not only a path toward self-improvement and opportunity — it is also vital for preserving our identity and culture, especially for those uprooted by conflict.
That is why my organization, the Rohingya Youth Advocacy Network (RYAN), is trying to launch a General Educational Development (GED) program to give refugee youth a second chance to qualify for university studies. We hope to help create the next generation of educated Rohingya leaders who will rebuild their communities with dignity and vision.
The Global Crisis of Education in Conflict
The devastating impact of conflict on education is not unique to the Rohingya.
From Myanmar to Gaza, Sudan to Ukraine, schools are being attacked, teachers are being killed or displaced, and millions of children are losing years of learning.
According to the United Nations Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, in 2024 alone, the UN verified 1,265 attacks on schools in conflict zones.
In Myanmar, over two-thirds of schools in conflict-affected areas are destroyed or closed, leaving millions without classrooms. The UN Security Council Resolution 2601 (2021) and the Safe Schools Declaration both affirm that education must be protected — even in times of war.
Schools are not just buildings. They are the most valuable assets of humankind — and they must never be targeted or used for military purposes.
Every child deserves the right to learn — to read, to think, to understand the world, and to rebuild it with peace. This is true whether they grow up in a refugee camp in Bangladesh or anywhere else.
Syedul Mostafa, is the Executive Director of the Rohingya Youth Advocacy Network and a member of the Rohingya Human Rights Network. He is living as a refugee in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.