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BSS- 42
LEARNING CENTRE-ROHINGYA
50 learning centres to be built in Cox’s Bazar for Rohingya children
DHAKA, Dec 11, 2019 (BSS) – A total of 50 steel-structured two-storey
learning centres will be built at Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar to provide
educational facility for Rohingya children.
The Nippon Foundation and BRAC jointly revealed the information at a press
conference at BRAC Centre in the capital.
Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of The Nippon Foundation, and Asif Saleh,
Executive Director of BRAC, among others, were present at the press
conference.
With US$ 2 million support from the Foundation, BRAC will build 50 steel-
structured two-storied learning centres in Cox’s Bazar. This project aims to
provide educational access for 8,000 Rohingya children aged between 4 and 14
years there. The Nippon Foundation is also supporting BRAC to open and
operationalise 100 pre-primary centres for 3,000 host community children aged
between 5 and 6 years with the funding.
Speaking at the press conference, BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh said
about 55 percent of the displaced Rohingyas staying in Cox’s Bazar are
children and they have very limited access to education.
Apart from facilitating education to the Rohingya children, he said, this
project will support 3,000 children of host community, as they are also very
vulnerable and have limited access to education. “Our vision is to promote
facility to the poor and those who are still lagging behind,” he added.
Mentioning that the support of the Nippon Foundation and the Japan
government are very important for Bangladesh, Saleh said: “We always welcome
such support”.
Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of The Nippon Foundation, said considering the
present circumstances, women and children are the most vulnerable in
conflict-prone areas across the world and “that is why we need to provide
support to women and children”.
The Nippon Foundation has been working in Bangladesh since 1971. Its
activities focused to support in health, education, human resource
development and support for people with disabilities. These includes, for
example, supporting flood or cyclone victims, providing anti-leprosy drugs,
scholarship programmes, prevention of cholera epidemic, and supporting
projects for relief and rehabilitation of refugees in Bangladesh.
The Nippon Foundation has decided to further support those projects in
Bangladesh for basic human needs including education and learning
opportunities.
BSS/ASG/MRI/ARS/1910 hrs