A/HRC/39/CRP.2 were denied equal access to education and the highly adverse impact this had on their lives:1196 Because of the 2012 violence, the dream of my parents for education got shattered. My father and brother were teachers and look at me, I couldn’t even study! Now when I meet educated people, I think, “Oh my God, I haven’t even passed class 10”. But I still have hope that one day if I can save a bit of money, I will restart my education because it is so important. The military backed Government snatched our life from us. They ruined the entire Rohingya community in the country.1197 Discrimination at school in northern Rakhine 559. A large majority of children in northern Rakhine State have relied on government-run basic education schools for their education. 1198 Rohingya have faced severe discrimination in these schools. This includes the humiliating practice of seating Rohingya children at the back of the class, while ethnic Rakhine children sat at the front, or Rohingya and Rakhine students being placed in different classrooms. 1199 Many government-appointed teachers neglect Rohingya students and treat them differently from Rakhine students. 1200 Some actively undermine Rohingya students, with examples of them being called “Kalar”, or being told that they are not Myanmar citizens or that they “do not have any country”. 1201 One young Rohingya woman from Maungdaw shared her experience at school: The only regret I have in my life is that no teacher ever considered me as their favourite student. You have no idea, what I was doing to try to get the attention of my teachers and learn like any other student. I obeyed. I behaved nicely. If they wrote anything on the black board, I would help to erase it afterwards. The teachers used to bring their lunch in a box. When I would see them, I would quickly offer to carry their lunch-boxes. Even after all this, they hardly checked my homework or classwork to see if I was learning properly. I always heard that teachers are nice and caring but this was not the case with me. I always completed my homework on time and wanted them to look at it but they would simply put a right or wrong sign on the paper without explaining anything. For the Rakhine students it was different, their homework was checked.1202 560. Another barrier consistently highlighted by interviewees is language. Depending on the grade, classes in public schools are taught in Rakhine or Myanmar language, which many Rohingya students do not understand.1203 Rohingya interviewees stated that their classes were irregular, with a high level of absenteeism by teachers, and that often they had little to do at school.1204 One interviewee explained how the Rohingya students at his school were kept in a separate room and that the teacher would only greet them in the morning before spending the rest of the day with the ethnic Rakhine students. The Rohingya students were unable to communicate properly with the teacher.1205 561. After the 2012 violence, some schools closed. In 2015, it was assessed that the primary level teacher-student ratios were 83:1 in Buthidaung and 123:1 in Maungdaw, respectively more than double and triple the international benchmark and well above the reported target 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 BI-004, BI-018, CI-019, CI-062, CI-063, CI-065, CI-069, CI-072, CI-073, CI-078, CI-079, CI-080, CI-125, CI-173, DI-003, DI-004, DI-005, DI-007, DI-010, DI-013, DI-022, DI-025, DI-026, DI-034, DI-038, DI-046, DI-047, DI-050, DI-052, DI-053, DI-073, DI-076, LI-055, LI-087, LI-092, LI-098, LI-101, LI-103, LI-116, LI-131, LI-135, QI-069. DI-047. PLAN and REACH, Joint education sector needs assessment, north Rakhine State, Myanmar (2015), p. 4. BI-018, CI-173, DI-005, DI-026, DI-038, DI-050, DI-053. CI-062. CI-065, CI-069, CI-072, CI-078, CI-073. DI-026. DI-004, DI-010, DI-026, DI-038. DI-005, DI-025, DI-052, LI-116. DI-005. 133