Japan to provide $5.3 million for reconstruction of schools

Islamabad: The government of Japan has agreed to provide Pakistani authorities with a new grant worth 794 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to around $5.3 million) for reconstructing educational facilities in flood-affected areas in Sindh province.

A ceremony for the signing of grant documents was held at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Islamabad where Ambassador of Japan WADA Mitsuhiro, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) KINOSHITA Yasumitsu, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs Dr. Kazim Niaz, and other officials from both countries were in attendance. Since June 2022, heavy monsoon rains have intermittently caused flooding that has submerged one-third of the country, resulting in more than 1,700 deaths and 33 million people affected, according to officials.

They insist the damage in Sindh province has been severe, accounting for 66% of the total damage in the education sector. As medium- and long-term measures, the rapid reconstruction of damaged educational facilities are important to ensure that children have safe learning opportunities.

Officials said it was the fourth grant aid through which the government of Japan supported the improvement of educational facilities in Sindh province.

They said school buildings assisted by Japan in the past projects suffered less damage and destruction from the rainfall and flooding in 2022 because they were designed and constructed based on analysis of the 2010 floods. The officials said the new project would also incorporate the concept of “Build Back Better” to reduce vulnerability of the target schools to future disasters and build resilience of communities where the schools are located.

They added that the project was meant to establish safe and disaster-resilient learning environment through reconstruction of elementary schools which were heavily affected by the flood and heavy rain in 2022. The assistance contributes to improving the school enrollment rate and gender equality in the target areas, contributing to the SDGs Goal 4 (Quality education) and 5 (Gender equality).