Sindh secures funds to repair 4,162 flood-affected schools

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday presided over a meeting to review the ongoing repair and reconstruction of 4,162 of the 19,808 school buildings that were damaged in the 2022 floods.

He directed the school education department to not only expedite work but also ensure that the schools were rebuilt in a flood resilient way. Officials said the meeting was held at the CM House and attended by Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Education Secretary Zahid Abbasi, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi and Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh.

Murad directed the school education department to prioritise reconstruction schools in the most-affected areas and ensure that the quality of construction met the required standards. “Education is our top priority, and we must rebuild these schools to provide a safe learning environment for our children,” he stated.

The CM said a total of 19,808 schools were damaged or destroyed by the floods two years ago and reconstruction or repair work on 4,162 of those schools had either been started or would be started shortly. He added that he needed to arrange funds for repair or reconstruction of the remaining 15,646 damaged schools. The education minister informed the meeting that that out of the total 40,978 school buildings in Sindh, 19,808 were affected by the floods, 7,503 of which were fully destroyed and 12,305 damaged.

To a question, the CM was told that the total enrolment in the 40,978 schools was 5.22 million, but the number of the children affected by the damage caused to the schools was 2.33 million.

The CM directed the school education department to ensure proper running of the classes so that the school education was not affected. To this, Sardar told the CM that under stop-gap arrangement, classes were functioning properly.

The school education department told the CM that a total of 17,255 primary and 1,192 elementary schools had suffered damage. Similarly, 928 secondary and 278 higher secondary schools were damaged.

When he asked about the repair efforts, the CM was informed that 4,162 damaged schools had been taken up for repair and reconstruction with the support of various donor agencies and the federal government.

The meeting was told that the Asian Development Bank had funded the repair of 1,026 schools, the Sindh government was repairing 538 schools through its Annual Development Programme, the World Bank was funding the repair work of four schools through the federal government, the European Union had undertaken to provide funds for the repair of 112 schools, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) nine schools.

A total of 1,132 schools would be repaired under the repair and maintenance budget, and the federal government would provide repair funds for 833 schools under the Public Service Development Programme. The World Bank through the SELECT programme would provide money for the repair of 377 schools. The donor agency would also provide funds for the repair of 31 other schools under the Sindh Secondary Education Improvement Project (SSEIP).

The total cost for repair and reconstruction of 4,162 schools had been estimated at Rs167,080.78 million. The CM directed the school education department to ensure the completion of the reconstruction or repair work by the fiscal year 2025-26. “I want you [school education department] to accelerate the restoration process so that educational institutions can resume full operations as soon as possible,” he said.