Rohingya Education at Risk: The Catastrophic Future Without WFP Aid

Survey Findings from 55 Teachers & 30 Parents – Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps, Bangladesh

Introduction

The Rohingya refugee education system in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, has been a fragile lifeline for children displaced from Myanmar. The World Food Programme (WFP) provides essential monthly rations that not only sustain families but also enable children to attend school, teachers to remain in their posts, and educational programs to function.

This report is based on surveys conducted with 55 Rohingya teachers and 30 parents, capturing the lived experiences, concerns, and perspectives of those directly impacted by potential WFP funding cuts. Participants shared deeply emotional reflections, revealing how hunger is directly threatening attendance, learning, and the future prospects of children.

With WFP funding potentially ending in November 2025, teachers and parents express urgent concern that without immediate intervention, an entire generation of Rohingya children will lose access to education, exacerbating poverty, child labor, early marriage, and long-term vulnerability.

This report focuses on:

• Immediate impacts on attendance and classroom learning
• Rising child labor and gendered vulnerabilities
• Teachers’ struggles and risk of workforce collapse
• Long-term consequences for children and community
• Urgent role of the international community in preventing disaster

Predicted Dropouts After November

Description:

Teachers warn that the end of food support will immediately reduce attendance. Parents confirm they cannot send hungry children to class. Weeks after November, absenteeism will become permanent dropout, erasing years of investment in literacy, numeracy, and basic education.

Without intervention, the first victims will be younger children who may never return. This is the beginning of a systemic collapse of the Rohingya education system, which has already been operating under extremely limited resources.

Surge in Child Labor and Exploitation

Description:

When children leave school, they enter informal labor markets. Boys may work in markets, collect recyclables, or take on dangerous labor to survive. Parents confirm that economic necessity will override education. Teachers report that by December 2025, the number of children working instead of studying will rise sharply.

This surge in child labor represents not just an educational loss but a child protection crisis. Children will face physical risks, exploitation, and long-term poverty, perpetuating a cycle that could last generations.

Early Marriage and Gendered Impacts

Description:

Girls are disproportionately affected. Families facing food shortages often consider early marriage a survival strategy. Girls are removed from school, ending their education prematurely and increasing risks of domestic violence, early pregnancies, and lifelong dependency.

Teachers emphasize that secondary education for girls is already limited, and without immediate food-linked school programs, girls’ enrollment may vanish entirely, creating a gendered lost generation.

Teachers’ Departure and System Collapse

Description:

Teachers are already overworked, underpaid, and surviving on humanitarian support. Without food and stipends, morale will collapse, and many will leave the profession. Parents fear the loss of their only source of structured learning. This creates a compounding crisis: teacher departure accelerates student dropouts, reduces quality, and destabilizes the system, leaving thousands without guidance or hope.

Hunger in Classrooms and Learning Challenges

Description:

Even attending children cannot engage due to hunger. Teachers report fatigue, inattentiveness, and fainting. The learning environment collapses as cognitive and emotional stress increases. Classrooms become unsafe, particularly in overcrowded conditions.

Without food-linked programs, learning outcomes will plummet, and cognitive development among young children will be permanently impaired.

Long-term Future (2026–2030) if No Action Taken

Description:
The absence of food support will have cascading long-term effects:

• Literacy and numeracy gaps will widen
• Adolescents will enter labor markets or marry early
• Skills for vocational and higher education will disappear

Teachers warn recovery will be extremely difficult. Once a generation misses foundational learning, the lost opportunities cannot easily be replaced, creating systemic poverty and dependency.

Parents’ Message for Immediate Action

Description:

The urgency is clear: November is a turning point. Parents and teachers plead for immediate international support. Delay means irreversible educational loss and threatens child protection, social cohesion, and the long-term development of Rohingya youth.

Potential Risks After November

• Mass Dropouts: Thousands of children expected to leave school immediately.
• Child Labor: Adolescents forced into unsafe, exploitative work.
• Early Marriage: Girls disproportionately affected.
• Teacher Attrition: Educators leaving, collapsing teaching system.
• Lost Generation: Irrecoverable educational disruption for 2026–2030.
• Increased Insecurity: Hunger, idle youth, and exploitation create social instability.

International Community Responsibility

The surveys highlight that global actors, including UN agencies, NGOs, and donor governments, must recognize their role in preventing catastrophe. Key responsibilities include:

1. Restoring and guaranteeing monthly WFP food rations linked to school attendance. This is the single most critical intervention to maintain attendance and learning.
2. Funding teacher stipends and professional development. Teachers already work under extreme hardship; their retention is essential to prevent total system collapse.
3. Providing learning materials and safe classrooms. Without basic resources, educational quality is impossible, and children disengage.
4. Monitoring child protection and gender-based risks. Agencies must act to prevent early marriage, exploitation, and child labor.
5. Long-term education planning. Support for secondary education, scholarships, online learning, and Myanmar curriculum continuity is vital for sustainable outcomes.

Reflection from International Perspective (Combined Quotes):

“Our support cannot wait; each day without food destroys hope, education, and stability in the camps. Immediate action will save a generation.”

Urgent Recommendations

1. Immediate restoration of WFP food rations tied to school attendance.
2. Secure teacher stipends and retain qualified educators.
3. Deliver textbooks, learning aids, and safe classroom infrastructure.
4. Strengthen psychosocial support programs for children affected by hunger.
5. Implement gender-sensitive programs to prevent early marriage and protect adolescent girls.
6. Support higher education pathways to maintain skill development and future employability.

Consequences Without Action

If the international community delays or fails to act, consequences include:

• Children leaving school permanently, especially older adolescents.
• Increased child labor, unsafe work, and trafficking risks.
• Early marriage and domestic burden for girls, reducing opportunities.
• Teachers abandoning posts, further destabilizing education.
• Lost generation, unable to access higher education, vocational skills, or meaningful employment.
• Social instability, as hunger and hopelessness lead to conflict, crime, and unsafe migration.

Teachers and parents warn that every week of delay compounds the disaster. They stress that intervention must occur **before November 2025.

About Author

Mr Kaisayr Husein, both his Ph.D. in Education and International Relations and MA in Political Science and Public Administration research focused on the Rohingya identity, refugee crises, migration, legal rights, and citizenship issues. His research explores the longtime process of democracy development in Myanmar, conflict analysis, genocide studies, ethnic minority rights, religious discrimination, statelessness, and forced displacement, with particular case studies on the Rohingya crises in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Mr Kaisayr’s academic contributions extend to international refugee law (IRL), migration policy, legal status, and the historical context of Arakan.