Thousands of Rohingya refugee children are out of school and risk getting left behind for good. Volunteer education specialist Fiona Kirby shares how VSO is helping them get the education they deserve.
Before I arrived in Bangladesh, I'd seen news coverage on the Rohingya refugee crisis, but you really don’t get the scale until you see it – it’s enormous. There are so many camps, they’re all huge and it’s overwhelming.
Fiona Kirby
Early Childhood Education Adviser
Professional International Volunteer of VSO
People are living in makeshift homes, having left everything they know behind them. They just want to live in an ordinary way and get on with their everyday lives like any of us.
And like any one of us, they want an education for their children.
Bringing the power of volunteering to the camps
National VSO volunteers brief the local volunteers before they take part in some field work.
People in these camps are sharing their skills and knowledge, working alongside the community volunteers.
It’s all about people-power.
The children don’t have anywhere to learn and play in the camps – it’s too dangerous and the resources just aren’t there.
What’s unique about this work is that it is centred around home-based learning.
I trained three national volunteers in early childhood education and how children learn through play.
After the training, they then trained 12 community volunteers who work with mothers in the camps, in turn training them to be able to educate their young children at home.
When the children got the toys, they were so happy they immediately started to play with them.
I believe they are entitled to the very best start, as any child in any part of the world is. They have an entitlement to their education.
Fiona Kirby
VSO volunteer education specialist