Border News Agency
Cox’s Bazar, 25June 2025
UNICEF has announced a partial reopening of schools in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, citing a severe funding shortfall that has forced the agency to prioritize limited educational services.
Following key meetings in mid-June, including with the Strategic Advisory Group and the Education Sector Coordination at the ISCG, UNICEF managed to secure limited donor funds to support some Learning Facilities (LFs) in the camps. However, the organization stressed that the funding is not nearly enough to reopen all grades.
As per UNICEF’s reopening plan for June 2025, only Myanmar Curriculum (MC) Grade 6 and above (secondary grades), Skills Development programmes in Multi-Purpose Centres (MPCs), and all Early Childhood Education (ECE) and MC classes in Bhasan Char will fully resume. Grade 5 will partially reopen only for one day a week while adolescent girls in Grades 2 to 4 will receive limited education through Community Based Learning Facilities (CBLFs).
Classes from Grade 1 to Grade 4 and Early Childhood Education (ECE) in the camps will remain closed for now.
UNICEF Cox’s Bazar Chief of Field Office (Acting), Angela Kearney, emphasized in a letter dated 23 June that “due to the decline in funding, UNICEF regrets to confirm that we will not be able to open all the classes on 29 June, when the academic year for the Myanmar Curriculum will begin.”
The closure has deeply impacted both education providers and the refugee community. Over 40% of UNICEF staff cuts have already occurred, and many host community volunteers will now receive reduced incentives due to partial operations.
Despite these challenges, UNICEF is encouraging other partners, especially those who are not directly funded by UNICEF to reopen schools if they have their own funding sources. “We welcome our partners continuing to open these and to support an extension to Grade 5 if they have their own funding available,” said Kearney.
UNICEF has committed to seeking additional funding urgently at both national and international levels and aims to expand the reopening as soon as financial resources permit. The agency acknowledged strong community feedback calling for the full return of Learning Facilities, collected through focus groups and key informant interviews.
In the interim, children who have moved up to higher grades are expected to resume schooling under the partial reopening structure.
