44pc reconstruction of flood-affected schools completed, meeting told

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday presided over a meeting at the CM House to review progress in the education department’s development portfolio, covering projects of both the school education & literacy department (SELD) and college education department (CED) under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2025–26.

Officials said the meeting was attended by Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Planning & Development Board Chairman Najam Shah, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Colleges Secretary Nadeem Memon and School Education Secretary Shahzaman Khuhro along with senior officials.

The meeting was informed that under the ADP 2025–26, a total of 130 schemes covering 1,280 units were targeted for completion during the fiscal year with an estimated cost of Rs15.57 billion, of which Rs1.88 billion had already been released.

It was said that the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for reconstruction of flood-affected schools was being implemented across 30 districts of Sindh at a cost of Rs12.33 billion jointly financed by the federal and provincial governments. Of the 481 schools under the project, 317 had already been constructed till the roof level or above, marking 44 per cent physical and 28 per cent financial progress.

Progress was also reported in foreign-assisted initiatives, including those funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under JICA’s school upgradation scheme, 20 girls schools in five districts were being elevated from primary to elementary level, with four already completed. Another JICA-supported project in six districts had reached 45 per cent physical progress, he added.

The Sindh Secondary Education Improvement Project (SSEIP), co-funded by the Asian Development Bank, was constructing 117 new secondary schools and training 2,630 teachers in key subjects. The SSEIP Additional Financing (Flood Component) worth $302.5 million would reconstruct 722 flood-damaged schools in the worst-affected districts of Khairpur, Naushehro Feroz, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Larkana and Dadu with 528 schools upgraded to higher levels using climate-resilient technology.

Murad also reviewed the Sindh Early Learning Enhancement through Classroom Transformation (SELECT) initiative, which had trained 21,500 teachers in 13,000 schools across 12 districts, distributed over 450,000 sets of additional reading material for Grades 1–5 and launched the Student Attendance Monitoring and Redress System (SAMRS) in 600 schools to ensure regular attendance through digital oversight.

Under the infrastructure component of SELECT, 295 primary schools were being upgraded and construction had begun in 293 schools, with 15 to be handed over by December 2025, 200 by April 2026, and the rest by November 2026.

The CM reviewed the college education department’s development portfolio under the ADP 2025–26, which focused on establishing new colleges and upgrading existing institutions through rehabilitation and provision of missing facilities across Sindh.

The Directorate of Planning & Development (CED) reported that the department’s ongoing schemes aimed to expand access to higher secondary education, particularly in underserved and newly urbanizing areas, while improving the learning environment through upgraded infrastructure, laboratories and libraries.