amage and loss to the education system is perhaps the least reckoned impact of the recent disastrous floods in Pakistan. While damage to roads, dykes, houses and the loss to the economy has been emphatically highlighted by the higher ups, not as much concern has been voiced for the loss education 3.5 million children have suffered.

Only last month, the UNICEF reported that floods have damaged or destroyed more than 26,600 schools nationwide and that at least 7,060 others are being used as temporary relief camps and shelters for the displaced. As a result, the education of more than 3.5 million children has been disrupted. Even before the floods Pakistan had the world’s second highest population of out-of-school children. 22.8 million of those aged 5-16 years, or 44 percent of the children in the age group, are out of school.

“Having already endured some of the world’s longest school closures due to the [Covid-19] pandemic, [Pakistan’s children] are experiencing yet another threat to their future,” UNICEF’s global education director, Robert Jenkins, said in a statement. After a visit to flood-hit areas he compassionately described the plight of children by mentioning “almost overnight, millions of Pakistan’s children lost family members, homes, safety and their education, under the most traumatic circumstances. Now, faced with the uncertainty of when they’ll be able to return to school, and having already endured some of the world’s longest school closures due to the pandemic, they are experiencing yet another threat to their future.”

The Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) report of the Planning Commission has quantified the pecuniary requirement at Rs 197 billion ($918 million) to meet education recovery costs. The amount is higher than the United Nations’ total $816 million humanitarian funding appeal for the country.

Floods have exacerbated the loss to education endured during the Covid-19 pandemic when schools across Pakistan were fully or partially closed for 64 weeks between March 2020 and March 2022. Schooling, particularly in Sindh, had yet to recover from this loss.Within a few months teaching had been halted again.

Although the UNICEF has established more than 500 temporary learning centres in the worst-affected districts, the scale of academic loss is colossal and will have lasting effects on the learning of millions of children.

Half of whatever school infrastructure Sindh had built in the last 75 years, has crumbled under the calamitous floods.

The Education Department has compiled details of flood ravaged schools in the province. The data reveals the extent of damage to school infrastructure and education in the province. The department surveyed 44,219 schools in the province. According to the assessment, 7,938 school buildings have been destroyed and 12,664 partially damaged by the flood. Hence, teaching at almost half of the schools has been hampered. The damaged schools also include 2,294 girls’ schools. The number represents 34 percent of the total 6,685 girls schools in the province. It is a huge setback for girls’ education in rural areas of the province where female literacy is dismally low at 23 percent.

Auxiliary infrastructure has also been affected. According to the official data (Profiling for Government Schools-2019) 27,144 schools had boundary walls before the flood. 7,745 schools have now lost their boundary walls completely and 11,747 boundary walls are partially damaged. Hence 72 percent of the boundary walls are damaged. The same data shows that toilets in 10,566 schools have been destroyed and in 13,584 partially damaged. According to the official data, 29,634 schools had toilets before the flood. 81.5 percent of those toilets have either been totally destroyed or are now non-functional. These facilities have a direct bearing on enrolment and attendance in schools. Under the socio-cultural setting of rural areas, boundary walls and toilets are of critical significance specially for girls’ schools.

Reconstruction and repair of the damaged infrastructure will likely take several years. Half of whatever school infrastructure Sindh had built over the last 75 yearshas crumbled under the calamitous floods. This has put the schooling of more than two million students of the province in jeopardy. The humanitarian community and the government should divert resources to rebuild these schools on an urgent basis.

Meanwhile, unavailability of buildings should not preclude schooling for an indefinite period. Authorities and communities should arrange other premises so that the schools may become functional. Surviving school buildings can be used in the afternoon to accommodate pupils enrolled in damaged schools. Other government offices could also be used in the evening for schooling purposes. The community can also donate their houses and otaqs (guest houses) to run their village schools. Donors like the UNICEF can provide specially designed tents for schooling.

The writer is a development sector professional, and can be reached at nmemon2004@yahoo.com