Govt Clears Tk 204cr UNICEF Education Plan for Rohingyas

Rohingya Camp.

The government has approved a proposal to provide pre-primary and primary education to forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (Rohingyas) living in Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Bhasan Char through UNICEF.

The initiative, costing Tk 203.87 crore, will be implemented with joint funding from the government and a World Bank grant. Approval was granted at a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase held at the Secretariat on February 3.

The proposal was placed before the committee by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.

Education services will be procured under the SD-4 package of the project titled ISO Component-One: Pre-Primary and Primary Education Improvement Project in Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban Districts and Bhasan Char of Noakhali.

Officials said the initiative under Component-1 of the project aims to engage Rohingya children in structured learning and help them acquire basic skills through education delivered in their mother tongue.

UNICEF was invited to submit a proposal under a single-source procurement method to implement the programme. The proposal was jointly reviewed, evaluated and negotiated by the Directorate of Primary Education and the World Bank’s education team.

Following negotiations, approval was sought to award the package to UNICEF at a cost of USD 18.45 million, equivalent to Tk 203.87 crore, based on the Development Project Proforma exchange rate. The committee subsequently endorsed the proposal.

The project had earlier been approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on May 28, 2024, and will be implemented from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2027. Under the agreement, the World Bank will directly disburse the full amount to UNICEF in US dollars.

Sources said that although the approved project initially envisaged implementation through open tendering, the decision to engage UNICEF was taken in line with the conditions attached to the World Bank’s grant and loan agreements.

Under the programme, 256,490 Rohingya children will receive education support in the Myanmar language. To deliver the services, 4,106 volunteer teachers will be recruited in the first year, followed by another 3,700 volunteers over the next six months. The teachers will receive honorariums as set out in the project framework.