Education in Arakan: Current Situation And Alternative Solution

By Qutub Shah

RB Opinion

May 12, 2014

The strongest means that the regime and Buddhists have adopted to eradicate the Muslim existence is deprivation from education during last 70 years. 3rd June was a golden chance for the gov’t and the Buddhists to activate this means openly until the little educational institutions that are available in Arakan such as Mosque, Schools, Madrasas and Universities, are locked for unlimited period of time. No more sources left to seek knowledge for the member of this society.

Before 3rd June as well, these educational institutions failed to play the expected roles in the related fields due to:

- Lack of quality education

- Traditional syllabus

- Lack of contemporary knowledge

- Lack of modern education system

- Unqualified teachers

- Restriction of movement

- Insufficient facilities, etc.

And Tabligue is unmentionable here as it is an educational institution without pen and paper. In addition, because of unavailability of social media and being a restricted area there is no chance for knowledge exchange. The literacy rate of Arakan won’t exceed 0.1 percent. The highest qualifications available are Matric-pass, bachelors and Molvis. No postgraduate qualification at all. Most of those educated persons have fled the country for various reasons. The persons who are playing the leading role of the society educationally are some fresh collegiate only.

Fresh wave of human trafficking

Exploiting this tragic situation and fulfilling their evil purposes, some so-called Rohingya organizations and leaders, most of them are profit-based and professional respectively, are listing the existing students inside Arakan, especially the collegiate and offering scholarships to study abroad, in order to drive them out of the soil of Arakan. I don’t think they are doing well for this people by doing this.

Why are we vacating our land?

Who will lead the society in the future?

Why are we dispersing our own society?

What is the difference between you and those human traffickers of boat people?

Why are we implementing Buddhist plan against us?

Why are we pulling the educated out of Arakan?

Do you expect that if the student is qualified abroad, he will be able to serve his society, land and people?

A result we can expect finally is that the Arakanese Rohingya Society is going to be led by illiteracy totally soon due to this ‘Brain Drain’.

An Alternative Solution

Here I would like to request and suggest the concerned organizations and individuals to facilitate higher education and other possible knowledge sources inside Arakan instead of moving the students out of Arakan. For higher education, there are a number of online universities, open universities, distance universities, educational centers and institutes offering various training courses, academic degrees, diplomas and certificates online or via distance study. We can help our brothers in Arakan in getting admission and scholarship in those institutes instead of study abroad and also we can provide them with other facilities for earning knowledge and exchange of it such as home classrooms, internet, computers, generators for electricity production, 3G mobiles, magazines, newspapers, televisions, radios, books, CDs & DVDs for software, programs, lectures, sermons, debates, etc.

For basic Education, we can recruit those graduate and collegiate for home tuition and private courses. On the other hand, it’s a kind of financial support for those needy students. We have also to finalize for poor students and parents who can’t effort for their children education.

There are some other possible alternative solutions which can’t be expressed here. For further discussion you can contact the writer via qqutubshah@gmail.com or twitter @qutubshah