Hopes abound as Myanmar curriculum reaches Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh

Some Rohingya children living in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar have started their Myanmar education, in a government and UN-backed program that aims to prepare them for future return to their home country. (Photo courtesy: Brac)
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Updated 09 May 2022
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Hopes abound as Myanmar curriculum reaches Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh

  • Around 400,000 children are among over 1 million Rohingya Muslims in Cox’s Bazar
  • Myanmar curriculum aims at preparing Rohingya children for future return to home country

DHAKA: Rohingya children living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are progressing with their Myanmar education, with the arrival of new textbooks setting a government and UN-backed program on course to prepare the hundreds of thousands of children for a future return to their home country.

Around 400,000 school-aged children are among more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims living in the fishing port in southeastern Bangladesh who had sought refuge in the neighboring country after fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar.

The refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are now host to 3,400 informal learning centers run by UN agencies and aid partners, which provide basic education to over 300,000 students.

Bangladeshi authorities and the UN launched the Myanmar Curriculum Pilot project last November, a program aimed at preparing Rohingya children for a future return to their country. It was stalled for one year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The MCP was launched in November 2021. UNICEF aims to scale up in phases so that by 2023, all school-aged children are taught through the Myanmar curriculum,” Moyukh Mahtab, UNICEF spokesperson based in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, told Arab News.

The arrival of new textbooks this week marked the beginning of the formal education portion of the project, with more detailed lessons now becoming part of their routine after previously receiving only basic education and general knowledge. With the pilot project, UNICEF hopes to enroll at least 10,000 children by the end of this month.

“Under the MCP, Rohingya refugee children are taught English, mathematics, sciences and social studies, including history and geography,” Mahtab said.

Khan Mohammed Ferdous, an education sector lead of UN aid partner Brac at Cox’s Bazar, said the students go to classes six days a week and spend at least three hours daily there.

“Common placement tests were conducted to find the competency of the students, and based on this the students were enrolled from grade six to nine. Five teachers will be there in each of the learning centers to teach all the subjects,” Ferdous told Arab News.

The Myanmar curriculum, in which lessons are taught in English and the official Myanmar language, Burmese, has brought hope to the Rohingya children in Cox’s Bazar.

“Now, I can continue my study just like in my homeland. After returning home, I would be able to communicate with the people in my community,” sixth grader Hafsa Akter, who dreams of becoming a doctor, told Arab News.

“If we receive a standard education, it will help us in pursuing a good career. I want to be a politician after completing my education because, with this profession, I would be able to change the fate of our community,” seventh grader Moung Soe Myint told Arab News.

“Now I can dream of a better future.”

Nur Khan, a prominent human rights activist in Bangladesh, said authorities in the country should partner with UN officials to engage their Myanmar counterparts in discussions and ensure refugee children can also receive certification for their studies that are acknowledged in Myanmar.

“And the discussion should also include and ensure a dignified and voluntary repatriation of the refugees,” he told Arab News.


Trump says US has signed a deal with China on trade, without giving details

Updated 4 sec ago
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Trump says US has signed a deal with China on trade, without giving details

BANGKOK: The US and China have signed an agreement on trade, President Donald Trump said, adding he expects to soon have a deal with India.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that the deal was signed earlier this week. Neither Lutnick nor Trump provided any details about the agreement.
“We just signed with China the other day,” Trump said late Thursday.
Lutnick said the deal was “signed and sealed” two days earlier.
It follows initial talks in Geneva in early May that led both sides to postpone massive tariff hikes that were threatening to freeze much trade between the two countries. Later talks in London set a framework for negotiations and the deal mentioned by Trump appeared to formalize that agreement.
“The president likes to close these deals himself. He’s the dealmaker. We’re going to have deal after deal,” Lutnick said.
China has not announced any new agreements, but it announced earlier this week that it was speeding up approvals of exports of rare earths, materials used in high-tech products such as electric vehicles. Beijing’s limits on exports of rare earths have been a key point of contention.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Thursday that Beijing was accelerating review of export license applications for rare earths and had approved “a certain number of compliant applications.”

Bangladesh pushes solar to tackle energy woes

Updated 19 min 54 sec ago
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Bangladesh pushes solar to tackle energy woes

  • The South Asian nation of 170 million people has set itself a target of generating 20 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2030

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s caretaker leader has ordered all government institutions including ministry buildings and schools to install solar panels to ease chronic power problems in a country regularly hit by deadly heatwaves.
The South Asian nation of 170 million people has set itself a target of generating 20 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2030 — a four-fold increase — and rising to 30 percent by 2040, the government said in a statement.
“Bangladesh is lagging far behind its neighboring countries,” the statement issued by the office of interim leader Muhammad Yunus read.
“Only 5.6 percent of our total requirement is currently met from renewable sources,” it added, noting that in neighboring India, it is 24 percent and in Sri Lanka, nearly 40 percent.
The government’s rooftop solar program will see all government offices, schools, colleges and hospitals installed with panels immediately, the statement issued late Thursday said.
The micro-finance pioneer said the panels would be installed and operated by private sector companies, unlike the largely failed push by since-ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to install panels by using government power agencies.
“The private sector will handle overall maintenance and keep the systems operational for their own business interests,” the statement said.
“The government will only provide them with rooftop access.”
The government has also initiated tender processes for 55 solar power plants with a total 5,238 megawatts capacity.
Bangladesh relies heavily on importing cross-border power from neighboring India, as well from Nepal, especially when demand soars during the blistering heat when consumers rely on energy-hungry air conditioners to keep cool.
Dhaka also began construction of the Russia-backed nuclear plant at Rooppur in 2017.
The much-delayed 2,400-megawatt project will be Bangladesh’s largest power station by generating capacity once fully operational.


Brazil’s outspoken first lady is coming under fire, but she refuses to stop speaking out

Updated 31 min 52 sec ago
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Brazil’s outspoken first lady is coming under fire, but she refuses to stop speaking out

  • Lula’s government is grappling with unpopularity, some analysts including members of his government, attribute this partly to his wife’s perceived overstepping in what was once a ceremonial role

SAO PAULO: In early May, an air of triumph filled a dinner in Beijing, where Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated a diplomatic victory: businessmen traveling with him said they had secured billions of dollars in investments as the veteran leader renewed his international prestige standing alongside his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
But then Brazilian first lady Rosângela da Silva, better known as Janja, raised her hand.
Although no one was expected to speak, da Silva addressed Xi, saying that Chinese social media company TikTok posed a challenge for leftists, claiming its algorithm favors right-wingers. China’s president reportedly answered. The exchange was leaked to Brazilian media by the time dessert was served.
Lula’s government is grappling with unpopularity that has dented his credentials as the frontrunner for reelection next year. Some analysts, including members of his government, attribute this partly to his wife’s perceived overstepping in what was once a ceremonial role.
Janja, a 58-year-old sociologist, has drawn criticism for insulting tech billionaire Elon Musk, mocking the suicide of a pro-Jair Bolsonaro supporter and advising the president on how to use the military during the Jan. 8, 2023 riots in the capital, Brasilia. Still, she insists she will speak out whenever it serves the public interest.
A Datafolha poll released June 12 found that 36 percent of Brazilians think the first lady’s actions hurt the government, while 14 percent say they are helpful. It was the pollster’s first measure of the first lady’s approval.
The same poll showed Lula with a 40 percent job disapproval rating, an 8 percentage point increase from October 2024.
Brazil’s presidency said in a statement to The Associated Press on June 20 that da Silva adheres to the solicitor-general’s office guidelines, adding that she “acts as a citizen, combining her public visibility with the experience she has built throughout her professional career in support of relevant social issues and matters of public interest.”
‘Undue interference’
Under guidelines published by the solicitor-general’s office, the president’s spouse primarily fulfills “a symbolically representative role on behalf of the president in a social, cultural, ceremonial, political or diplomatic nature.” For many of her critics, this does not grant her the authority to speak as a government representative.
Brazilian media have reported that government ministers, lawmakers and staunch leftist campaigners are privately raising concerns about the first lady being a hindrance more than an asset. These worries have skyrocketed since the incident in China — even as Lula himself has praised his wife for speaking out.
“It looks like Brazil is governed by a couple,” said Beatriz Rey, a political science postdoctoral and research fellow at the University of Lisbon. “When (the first lady) says there won’t be any protocols to silence her, she disrespects our democratic institutions for she has no elected office, no government position. It is not about being a woman or a feminist. It is undue interference.”
‘Present and vocal’
Lula’s first wife, Maria de Lourdes, died in 1971. His second, Marisa Letícia, died in 2017. Lula, 79, and Janja said they met in 2017 and started seeing each other frequently during the leftist leader’s 580 days in jail in the city of Curitiba between 2018 and 2019. They married in 2022.
Many supporters of Lula’s Workers’ Party partly attribute the criticism against the first lady to misinformation and disinformation. In May, the party launched the “I am with Janja” social media campaign in her defense. But the week-long effort garnered less than 100,000 views and only a few hundred comments.
“Janja is an asset because she rejuvenates Lula, everyone in the government understands that, even her critics,” a Brazilian government source told the AP. “No one wants to alienate her. But many important people in Brasilia, friends and allies of Lula, do understand that by overstepping she brings some of her rejection to the president.”
The source, who spoke under condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak about the matter publicly, often travels with the president and the first lady.
Adriana Negreiros, a journalist who profiled the first lady for a 2024 podcast titled “Janja,” said that allies of the president who criticize her do it with extreme caution.
”(Janja) dances, sings, speaks out, appears at official events and meetings with heads of state. She insists on being present and vocal,” Negreiros said. “There’s a lot of sexism and misogyny directed at her, no doubt. But not all criticism is sexist.”
‘She will say what she wants’
Da Silva said she doesn’t go to dinners “just to accompany” her husband.
“I have common sense. I consider myself an intelligent person. So I know very well what my limits are. I’m fully aware of that,” she told a podcast of daily Folha de S. Paulo.
Da Silva did, however, express remorse during the same podcast for the expletive she used against Musk in 2024, once a close ally of US President Donald Trump.
Many of Lula’s adversaries say they want the first lady to remain in the spotlight.
“The more she speaks, the more she holds a microphone, the more she helps the right wing,” said Nikolas Ferreira, one of Brazil’s most popular right-wing lawmakers.
Ferreira, a prominent social media figure, claims the role of regulating social media is a matter for Brazil’s Congress, not for the first lady to debate with foreign leaders like Xi.
Da Silva is also expected to play as a keen hostess at the BRICS summit in Rio on July 6-7, a role her husband is almost certain not to oppose.
“She will be wherever she wants,” Lula told journalists in March following criticism for sending the first lady as his representative to a nutrition summit in Paris that month.
“She will say what she wants and go wherever she wants.”


India seeks ‘permanent solution’ to border dispute with China

Updated 33 min 14 sec ago
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India seeks ‘permanent solution’ to border dispute with China

  • Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

NEW DELHI: Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart that the two countries should seek a “permanent solution” to their decades-old border dispute, India’s defense ministry said on Friday.

Singh met China’s Dong Jun on the sidelines of the meeting of the defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Qingdao on Thursday and stressed on solving issues between the two countries through a structured roadmap, the ministry said in a statement.

The world’s two most populous nations – both nuclear powers – share a 3,800-kilometer, largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas and have gone to war over it.

Although the frontier has been mostly peaceful in recent decades, a deadly clash between their troops in 2020 resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

The clash led to a four-year military standoff with both armies deploying tens of thousands of troops in the mountains until they reached a pact in October to step back, leading to a thaw in ties.

During his meeting with Dong, Singh also called for bridging the trust deficit created after the 2020 standoff, New Delhi said.

SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Their defense ministers’ meeting was held as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders set for the autumn.


Tibetans face up to uncertain future as Dalai Lama turns 90

Updated 27 June 2025
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Tibetans face up to uncertain future as Dalai Lama turns 90

  • The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist will reveal if there will be another Dalai Lama after him
  • The Dalai Lama has been lauded by his followers for his tireless campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet

DEHRADUN, India: Tibetans in exile celebrate the 90th birthday of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama next week, an occasion overshadowed by uncertainty about the future of the role and what it means for their movement.

The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist – who Tibetans say is the 14th reincarnation of the 600-year-old post – will reveal if there will be another Dalai Lama after him.

The inevitable change ahead brings wider concerns for Tibetans over the struggle to keep their identity alive after generations in exile, following a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

There is widespread support among Tibetans in exile for the Dalai Lama role to remain, said Dawa Tashi, once jailed in Tibet for his criticism of Beijing.

The Dalai Lama has said the institution will continue only if there is popular demand.

“I strongly believe the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama will continue,” said Tashi, of the India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

“This hope is not only shared by Tibetans inside and outside Tibet, but by thousands who are connected to the Dalai Lama across the world,” he said.

The leader, who turns 90 on July 6, and thousands of other Tibetans have lived in exile in India since Chinese troops crushed the uprising in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

The Dalai Lama has been lauded by his followers for his tireless campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet, a vast high-altitude plateau in China about the size of South Africa.

The Dalai Lama handed over political authority in 2011 to an exiled government chosen democratically by 130,000 Tibetans globally.

At the same time, he warned that the future of his spiritual post faced an “obvious risk of vested political interests misusing the reincarnation system.”

Many Tibetans in exile fear China will name a successor to bolster its control over Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has said that if there is a successor it will come from the “free world” outside China’s control.

The Dalai Lama has long said he does not seek full independence for Tibet.

Beijing says the territory is an integral part of China and that the Dalai Lama “has no right to represent the Tibetan people.”

Whatever the Dalai Lama decides about his role, “the freedom movement must continue regardless,” said Kunga Tashi, a 23-year-old Tibetan software engineer in India’s tech hub Bengaluru.

“The Chinese government and even Tibetans still equate the Dalai Lama with the freedom struggle,” he said. “And that is why his reincarnation feels like a turning point.”

The Dalai Lama, recognized worldwide in his red robes and wide smile, lives an austere monastic life in India’s Himalayan hill town of McLeod Ganj. He has said he wants to live until 113.

Penpa Tsering, the sikyong or head of the government which is also based in McLeod Ganj, said that senior Buddhist elders, or lamas, will meet the Dalai Lama on July 2.

The same day they will open the grand meeting of religious leaders, during which a video message by the Dalai Lama will be broadcast.

No details of its message have been released.

The Dalai Lama’s translator of nearly four decades, Thupten Jinpa, believes that “the continuity of the institution will remain,” meaning that, in time, there “will be a new Dalai Lama.”

“Today, many young Tibetans prioritize personal success over collective struggle,” said Geshema Tenzin Kunsel, a nun in her 50s from Dolma Ling Nunnery, near McLeod Ganj.

“In his absence, I fear what our future might look like.”

Tibetans who spoke to AFP say they will keep up their campaign no matter what happens in the coming weeks.

“While we haven’t yet achieved our goal of returning to a free Tibet, we’ve come further than anyone could have imagined – and that’s because of His Holiness (the Dalai Lama),” said Sonam Topgyal, 26, a university student in New Delhi.

Nepal-based Sakina Batt, 35, a former civil servant with the Tibetan administration, is part of Tibet’s minority Muslim population.

She too believes that the reincarnation process should “continue as it has for generations, preserving its sacred tradition without interruption.”

But she also said that it depended on the people, not just one leader.

“The future of Tibetans depends on unity and resilience,” she said. “It’s ultimately up to us to shape our own destiny.”