Estimates are still coming in as to the number of school structures affected. OCHA’s 23 August situation report said: “Some 7,820 schools are now reported to have been fully or partially damaged in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK), and about 4,935 schools are being used as relief shelters. A decrease in the number of schools being used as shelters has been reported from KPK and Sindh.”
According to Save the Children US, over 5,500 schools have been damaged across the country, while 5,000 others are being used as shelters for displaced families.
Ian Wolverton, Save the Children’s spokesman in Pakistan, said in a statement on 20 August: “Rebuilding educational infrastructure after the water recedes is going to be a daunting task. The education sector of Pakistan, especially in the rural areas, had been poor even before the floods, but now the situation is particularly dire."
Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) General Secretary Iftikhar Aazmi has been quoted by the press as saying in Karachi that “all educational institutes of Sindh, except those of Karachi and Hyderabad, have been disturbed due to the floods.” There were around 26,000 private and public sector schools in the province before the floods, according to education department figures.
“Running wild”
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 1.6 million children have been affected by damaged schools, or because the schools are being used as shelters. The UN agency has a six-month plan to meet schooling needs, starting in the first two months with the creation of temporary learning spaces in camps. “An assessment of damage to schools is now on so needs can be established," said UNICEF's emergency officer Fawwad Shah.
“The children are just running wild and roaming the streets. We need schools for them,” Zareena Bibi, 35, told IRIN at a camp where she and her three children have been since 14 August.
Temporary learning kits and recreational kits are being provided by relief workers and further educational interventions are planned.
“Parents are concerned about safe pastimes for children and want schooling so they don’t stray away from camps. The risk of flood-affected children being kidnapped by militants - raised by the president - has scared many,” said Dilawar Hasan, 65, a former school teacher now volunteering at several camps.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 1.6 million children have been affected by damaged schools, or because the schools are being used as shelters. The UN agency has a six-month plan to meet schooling needs, starting in the first two months with the creation of temporary learning spaces in camps. “An assessment of damage to schools is now on so needs can be established," said UNICEF's emergency officer Fawwad Shah.
“The children are just running wild and roaming the streets. We need schools for them,” Zareena Bibi, 35, told IRIN at a camp where she and her three children have been since 14 August.
Temporary learning kits and recreational kits are being provided by relief workers and further educational interventions are planned.
“Parents are concerned about safe pastimes for children and want schooling so they don’t stray away from camps. The risk of flood-affected children being kidnapped by militants - raised by the president - has scared many,” said Dilawar Hasan, 65, a former school teacher now volunteering at several camps.
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