R-Academy: Providing Education & Skills to the Stateless

Introduction

The Rohingya Project is a grassroots initiative to uplift and empower the stateless and financially excluded Rohingya people by creating a secure and transparent digital ecosystem. The R-Academy is a new initiative under the Rohingya Project which aims to provide Rohingya people with skills that they would find applicable and necessary in their lives. The pilot programme for the R-Academy was conducted over a duration of 8 weeks. During the pilot programme, English classes were conducted twice a week — once over Zoom, and once through a pre-recorded video. The Zoom class was held every Saturday at 1pm GMT, and the videos were uploaded every Tuesday.

A preliminary poll conducted among some of the Rohingya people indicated that there was a high demand for conversational English lessons and this was taken into consideration when choosing the topic for the pilot programme. The programme started with eighteen students who had indicated interest and availability for the timing of the class.

We observed the lessons that were conducted, and are writing this report to cover the pedagogical methods of the classes, its effectiveness, areas for improvement, as well as possible ways the programme can be scaled up.