Digging deeper than access: COVID-19 and the importance of culturally relevant education for Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar

A key challenge faced by refugee children around the world is accessing quality education. The denial of the fundamental human right to education has immense repercussions on development and the ability to achieve fulfillment in life for refugee children and entire generations of refugees. The core question guiding this study is: how has the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated issues of accessing education for refugees in the camps at Cox's Bazar? The results of the study revealed that the pandemic pressed on core faults in the ability for Rohingya refugee children to access education; these faults were the inadequate and informal options for learning imposed by INGOs providing top-down education programs. The Rohingya community has advocated for culturally relevant education, but they have not been meaningfully given a voice in determining the educational curriculum they are offered. Refugees deserve to have autonomy over their own education.