Beyond Permission:
Rohingya Girls’ Walk to School
Nazmun Naher Shishir
26 April 2025
In the narrow alleys of shanty shelters, within the struggle of forcible displacement, a quiet movement is taking place by men for women and girls in Cox’s Bazar’s Rohingya Refugee Camp. These men dare to dream differently not only for their sisters and daughters, but for all girls in their community, simply by supporting them to go to school.
“I want my daughters to go to school, so that they can become stronger,” says Samuda’s father Sayed Alam.
Sayed Alam escaped violence in Myanmar and arrived in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh in 1994, leaving behind his whole life in Myanmar’s Maungdaw, where the education of men was an unattainable luxury – let alone women’s. Alam became a farmer to support his family. Despite financial struggles, he made sure all his five children go to camp schools, including Samuda, who was born in the Kutupalong registered camp in 1998. Supporting girls to go to school is still an incident to frown upon in Sayed’s community and family. He says, “I want my daughters to go to school, so that they can become stronger and fight violence against women in the camp. A girl living in the Rohingya refugee camp needs to be stronger to shatter the wall of patriarchy.”
Building on Alam’s crucial point, it is concerning that – according to The Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) Factsheet – in the final quarter of 2024, overall reported GBV incidents had increased by 2.7% compared to Q3 2024.
This alarming rise in GBV victims can only be effectively reduced through education that promotes girls’ rights, raises awareness about the consequences of gender-based violence, and fosters gender equality. Along with conventional subjects, educating both men and women about consent, respect, and legal protections, alongside a systematic effort to dismantle patriarchal norms, is essential to create a safer society.
This education must start from primary school for both girls and boys.
Samuda started schooling and advocacy for girls’ education with Maiya School. Such provision from the head of the family (her father) drove Samuda to study further, eventually stepping into the higher studies. Her father’s belief in her potential became the foundation of her success—she is now living in U.S.A with her husband and daughter. She reflects proudly and says, “Even when we had financial problems, my father ensured I continued my studies. He dreamed of a better future for me which I could not imagine to dream.”
Maiya School student Noor Qaida and her father Noor Alam.
“Education will lead my daughter to independence,” says Noor Alam.
In another corner of the Rohingya camp, 58-year-old resident of Camp 4, Noor Alam shares a similar story. His daughter Noor Qaida is only 12 years old, but already breaking stereotypes by attending school after reaching adolescence. Noor Alam always wanted to go to school himself, but he was not allowed to by the government of Myanmar. To him, education is not only about being literate; it is more than that. It is about shaping one’s point of view and opening doors of opportunities.
He is concerned about the girls and women in the camps, as they still need permission from the men in their families to attend learning centres or school. Amid this, he is very happy that Qaida is going to school. “I am certain, my daughter will be able to choose her own path. It will not be determined by other men in her life. She will end up being an intelligent human and having a great career she will help others.”
“But I want my sister to study so she can understand self-respect, and her rights,” says Kalim Ullah, brother of Noor Hasina.
“Our community often believes girls don’t need to study,” says Kalim. “But I want my sister to study so she can understand self-respect, and her rights. She can become a doctor or a teacher—anything she wants!”
Kalim is an eighteen-year-old male student living in camp 1 of Kutupalong Refugee Camp and rejects his community’s mindset of prioritising boys’ education over girls’. He is determined to be a force for change, which he started from home by supporting his sister Noor Hasina, who is currently studying in grade three. He thinks a brother can play a critical role by challenging the conservative cultural norms to advocate for his sister’s rights.
Kalim grew up witnessing boys and men in his neighbourhood teasing girls who are going to school, fetching water, or laughing with their friends outside. “Even though it is normalised in my society, I never felt ease with it.”
Half of the 400,000 school-aged children in the Rohingya camp are girls. When these girls reach puberty, the majority of them drop out from the camp’s learning centres (according to UNICEF’s report). In this situation, to keep adolescent girls in school, support from the families’ men is essential. When men become allies like Sayed Alam, Noor Alam, and Kalim Ullah, they challenge the gender norms, creating a better path for the girls to become a woman of her own.
Maiya School is an organisation working to ensure Rohingya girls have impartial access to education throughout adolescence through a community-centred approach. It aims to empower Rohingya adolescent girls through education, equipping them with the confidence and skills to advocate for their own human rights and those of their Rohingya community. Designed in consultation with Rohingya families, the school actively engages parents and community to encourage social acceptance for girls’ education. It provides a safe, all-female learning environment, menstrual hygiene support, and a dedicated Rohingya Field Manager for student well-being. In the school, solar-powered fans and lights ensure comfortable learning conditions, while the curriculum follows Myanmar’s formal education framework, teaching literacy, numeracy, life skills, and health education.
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Shishir is a journalist, humanitarian worker, and policy researcher from Dhaka, Bangladesh, currently based in Sydney, Australia. Her work focuses on supporting Rohingya refugee women and children, and reporting on human trafficking, climate change, and refugee crisis. Her writing blends advocacy with storytelling for the rights of girls and women both inside and outside the Rohingya camps. Shishir believes war should be banned and that no human is illegal.
Shishir’s published work includes reports featured in London-based Dialogue Earth, Sydney-based City Hub, and Dhaka-based The Daily Observer and The Business Standard.