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Written by Esther Smitheram

January 26th, 2025

This article takes 5 min to read

The Hanifi Script - a Literacy Revolution for the Rohingya

Children on the Edge is embarking on an unprecedented initiative to support thousands of Rohingya refugee children to read and write in their own language. 

By pioneering the use of ‘Hanifi’ - a written script of the Rohingya language - our learning centres in the world’s largest refugee camp are teaching the children to read and write in their mother tongue for the very first time. 

On our pilot programme,  students taught with the Hanifi script achieved an 82% higher exam score than those without and we have permission to replicate it across our other classrooms in Kutupalong And Bhasan Char island. . 

The broader potential is boundless, not just for the hundreds of thousands of children we are working with, but for the Rohingya people as a whole. 

WHY CAN'T ROHINYGA LEARN IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE?

"If a people do not have a written language of their own, it is easier to say that as an ethnic group you don't exist."

Mohammad Hanif - Rohingya scholar and creator of the Hanifi script

After suffering decades of discrimination, violence and genocidal attacks from the government of their homeland in Myanmar, over 1 million Rohingya people now live in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya were excluded from education for generations in Myanmar; meaning that 2 out of 10 adults cannot read or write their own dialect or the national language of the Burmese. Instead, they speak in a Rohingya dialect, with no universally accepted written script, which has long been prohibited by the Myanmar government as just one of many tools of suppression.

Seven years on from the genocidal onslaught of 2017 there is an education crisis within the Bangladesh refugee camps, the largest factor being language

Bangladesh is already one of the world’s most densely populated countries and, fearing further Rohingya integration, the government restricts refugees from learning Bengali. They insist on the use of the Burmese language curriculum in camp schools which, as Rohingya children and teachers can scarcely understand Burmese, is entirely ineffective. 

With a lack of meaningful education, school attendance is dropping, leaving children at risk of child labour, child marriage, trafficking and recruitment into the growing number of organised crime gangs and violent fundamentalist groups in the camps.


HOW WE CAN BRING HOPE THROUGH HANIFI

Learning Hanifi is like a beacon of hope amidst the challenges we face. I'm determined to make the most of this education and use it to build a better community, both here in the refugee camp and hopefully one day back home in Myanmar. My mission is clear, and I won't stop until I succeed.”

Mohammed Reyas - age 14, Kutupalong camp

Hanifi is a written form of the Rohingya dialect developed in the 1980s by Rohingya scholar, Mohammed Hanif. In 2024, Children on the Edge received permission to pilot using the Hanifi script to facilitate education, marking the first time Rohingya students were permitted to use their mother tongue in the classroom. To date, there is no widespread use of Hanifi in education, as it was not recognised by authorities, yet the script enables children to learn to read and write fluently in their own language within a matter of months.

LEARNING TO WRITE IN
HANIFI SCRIPT

After bridging the language gap using dubbed video lessons for the last few years, we started a six month pilot in January 2024, teaching the children to read and write in Hanifi, and measuring its effect on their learning progress. The results strongly verified the potential of the Hanifi script as a critical tool for education and self-expression. Since January 800 Rohingya refugee children have been taught within a pilot scheme, using Hanifi learning tools and translated textbooks. On the post-pilot exam, Hanifi students scored 82% higher than non-Hanifi students. A remarkable achievement in just a few months.

I am feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement as I witness the positive impact that Hanifi is having on the Rohingya community. It is incredible to see how quickly the children are making progress.They are becoming more proficient in both reading and writing, and their confidence is growing with each passing day

Muhammed Tawfig - Rohingya teacher

On the basis of this evidence, we are currently training teachers to deliver Hanifi lessons across all our classrooms in the coming months. 

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

Our plan now is to translate textbooks and Hanifi teaching tools for dozens more education providers in the camp, potentially reaching 337,000 more children and making a historic step forward in turning the tide on Rohingya literacy and identity. We are currently training teachers and conducting extensive Focus Groups Discussions with the communities in the camps. 

Working for the first time with a coalition of like-minded educators, Rohingya groups, and Rohingya academics, we are optimistic about the longer term possibilities Hanifi can open up for the Rohingya community. 

Our team anticipates high demand for adult education once parents see their children reading and writing Rohingya. This has the potential to open up opportunities in the creation of other vital publications, books, newspapers, educational resources and websites, playing a unifying role and ultimately preserving and promoting the Rohingya language, culture and identity.

John Littleton, Children on the Edge Asia Regional Manager

You can make a difference

Support our work to create a literacy revolution for the Rohingya and help thousands of children learn to read and write in their own language. 

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