Page 7 - IJPS-11-6

International Journal of

Population Studies

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
Educational facilitators and key barriers for

Rohingya children with disabilities in refugee
camps

Mohammed Mamun Rashid 1 , Md. Sofuggzaman ,and Paramjit Singh
2
Jamir Singh *
3
1 Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Adjunct Faculty, School of Social Sciences, University
of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2 Unit of Disability Inclusion, CARE Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
3 Social Work Section, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town, Penang,
Malaysia

Abstract

The persecution of the Rohingya population – Myanmar’s Muslim minority – has
emerged as a grave injustice in the context of the global refugee crisis. In 2017, over
773,000 Rohingya, including approximately 400,000 children, fled to the Cox’s Bazar
district of Bangladesh. This paper examines the facilitators and key barriers to the
*Corresponding author: education of refugee children with disabilities and the major areas of intervention that
Dr. Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh
(paramjit@usm.my) stakeholders undertake to enhance their educational access. Ten Rohingya camps
were selected for the study, which included four focus group discussions with 10
Citation: Rashid, M.M., parents and 10 teachers, and a survey of 100 children with disabilities using a printed
Sofuggzaman, M. & Singh, P.S.J.
(2025). Educational facilitators and questionnaire. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed. The
key barriers for Rohingya children findings reveal that donor-driven support, policy prioritization for children with
with disabilities in refugee camps. disabilities, trained teachers, and the presence of joyful learning centers operated
International Journal of Population
Studies. 11(6): 1-14. by implementing non-governmental organizations serve as major educational
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.8097 facilitators. Conversely, the study identifies significant barriers such as inadequate
Received: December 20, 2024 facilities such as ramps and toilets, a lack of assistive devices, limited access to sports
and recreation, underdeveloped referral pathways, insufficient home-based learning
1st revised: April 22, 2025
opportunities, and a scarcity of special education materials. Finally, the article offers
2nd revised: May 11, 2025 a set of recommendations and highlights key stakeholders to ensure the right to
3rd revised: May 13, 2025 education for these marginalized children.
Accepted: May 14, 2025
Keywords: Children with disabilities; Donors; Education; Non-governmental organizations;
Published online: June 26, 2025
Stakeholders; Well-being
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is Disability is an integral part of the human experience. The United Nations Convention
properly cited. on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on December 13, 2006, defines
Publisher’s Note: AccScience disability as “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental,
Publishing remains neutral with intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (UN,
affiliations. 2006). According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022), approximately

Volume 11 Issue 6 (2025) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.8097