Islamabad: The Education Sector Working Group (ESWG) has reported significant challenges and progress in Pakistan’s education sector for the period of January to August 2024, revealing extensive damage to educational infrastructure due to monsoon floods, alongside substantial efforts to aid recovery and support refugee education.
According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, monsoon floods in 2024 have severely impacted educational facilities across Pakistan, with a total of 1,895 schools and learning centers damaged, and 2,293 schools rendered inoperable due to static water or occupation by internally displaced persons (IDPs). This crisis has disrupted the education of approximately 282,738 children and adults, with nearly half of the beneficiaries being girls.
The recovery efforts from the 2022 floods continued to be a focal point for the ESWG. The Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) successfully reached 140,423 children, including refugee children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, while the Refugee Response Plan (RRP) facilitated educational access for 82,741 children in refugee villages and host communities.
Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a global fund dedicated to education in emergencies, has selected Pakistan for piloting Anticipatory Action (AA) activities, allocating US$2.5 million in new funding to bolster the nation’s educational resilience.
The ESWG has also been active in repairing and rehabilitating schools affected by previous calamities. From a total of over 17,000 schools impacted by the 2022 floods, efforts have increased the number of schools receiving Temporary School Structures (TSS) and repair from 1,106 to 2,384. Training programs have been rolled out extensively, benefiting 12,069 teachers and 10,955 School Management Committee members across a variety of educational and emergency management subjects.
Looking ahead, the ESWG plans to construct or rehabilitate an additional 2,746 schools in the latter half of 2024, although a significant gap remains, with 12,075 schools still requiring attention.
In response to the refugee education needs, the 2024 RRP has requested $41.6 million to support over 380,000 beneficiaries. Education initiatives for Afghan refugees have been expanded, with a notable emphasis on inclusive and student-centered teaching strategies, benefiting 750 instructors.
Additionally, the national curriculum has been successfully adopted across all 142 Refugee Village schools, with particular progress noted in Balochistan, where the curriculum transition has been completed up to grade 12.
Training initiatives have also continued, with Save the Children and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy supporting sessions focused on Women in Education in Emergencies and Education in Emergencies transformation training. These sessions were attended by a range of education sector partners and provincial education department officials.
The ongoing efforts by the ESWG and its partners underscore a substantial commitment to overcoming the educational challenges posed by both natural disasters and the complex needs of refugee populations in Pakistan.