Global goals, local gaps: Assessing refugee education in Bangladesh through the lens of Sustainable Development Goal 4

Abstract

This study investigated refugee education paradigms and argued that despite the global education policy shift towards the inclusive approach of merging refugees into national education, the local implementation approaches remain discriminatory, results in refugee exclusion, and affects the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals at national level. The study situates this investigation by analysing the educational provisions for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The study examines the reasons and politics in looking for the answer to the question of why despite the involvement of multiple organisations, available infrastructure, and various educational systems, refugee children still lack access to formal education, and the barriers in achieving quality of education for the refugees. This is a qualitative study based on the primary data collected from 35 key informant interviews. The findings of this study provide insights into both academic research and policy analysis in the field of refugee education, by highlighting a protracted refugee situation in Bangladesh that political exclusion can create the ambiance to nullify the human rights of refugees to education, and even after enormous international attention and financial resources, the educational opportunity of a specific group of the population can be repressed, that can ultimately impact states’ targets to SDGs. It is critical to consider refugee in national development planning not just to address the need of refugees, but also to determine how refugees in protracted situations can contribute tonational development.