Unicef assures Sindh of help to resume academic activities in flood-affected areas

Sindh Minister for Education and Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah on Saturday met a Unicef delegation to assess the international community’s support for recovering from the damage caused by the recent natural calamities and discuss the rehabilitation of the education infrastructure in the flood-affected areas of the province.

The meeting took place at a local hotel in Karachi. The Unicef delegation was led by Robert Gordon Jenkins, director of education at the Unicef headquarters.

The results of a preliminary survey conducted by the Sindh education department regarding damages to the education infrastructure were presented in the meeting. The Unicef Pakistan had provided technical support to the Sindh education department for the survey.

The Unicef delegation lamented the sufferings of children due to the floods. They said the flood victims were suffering from many social and psychological problems.

Talking to the delegation, the Sindh education minister said the school infrastructure in the province had been severely affected due to the recent rains and floods, and the damage was so big that the government alone could not repair it.

He said it was also the responsibility of the international community to support Sindh for restoring education in the flood-affected areas.

The education minister acknowledged that Unicef had helped establish more than 2,000 temporary learning centres in Sindh and currently, the province needed to start 20,000 tent classrooms to continue with the teaching process.

Shah said that in view of the safety of children, the government could not allow them to used school buildings affected by the floods.

The Unicef delegation praised the initiative of the education department of conducting a survey for the assessment of damages to the education infrastructure.

Jenkins said the teaching process had already suffered a lot due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He added that there were other methods that could be used to educate children, such as the digital learning opportunities that had emerged during the pandemic crisis.

The delegation was told that 47 per cent of the schools had been completely or partially damaged by the floods.

According to the preliminary survey, 12,664 schools have been partially damaged and 7,938 schools completely affected.