On Wednesday, the Chief Minister of Sindh directed the Sindh Education and Literacy Department to expedite the reconstruction of 3,328 schools damaged by the catastrophic floods of 2022. With a strict deadline set for the end of the current fiscal year, the Chief Minister underscored the urgent need to restore educational facilities that have been severely affected. The floods, which wreaked havoc across the nation, resulted in the loss of 1,700 lives and displaced around 33 million people, in addition to inflicting an estimated $30 billion in economic damages, particularly impacting infrastructure and agricultural land.
During a review meeting at the Chief Minister’s House, it was revealed that various reconstruction projects for the damaged schools are already underway or in the tendering stage. The Chief Minister emphasized that the Education Minister must personally oversee these initiatives to ensure that they are completed by the end of June 2025. The government has allocated significant resources to tackle this challenge, with a total investment of Rs114.3 billion spread across ten different projects.
Among these projects is the SSEIP (Flood-Assisted) initiative, which aims to repair or reconstruct 1,026 schools with an estimated budget of Rs62.6 billion. Tenders for this project have already been issued, and work is also in progress for 31 additional schools under the SSEIP (Regular) initiative, which has a budget of Rs4 million.
Further funding has been secured through international partnerships, including a grant from China amounting to Rs7.6 billion dedicated to the reconstruction of 100 schools, which is currently awaiting approval. The progress includes 456 schools under the PSDP, with tenders issued for repairs and reconstruction at a cost of Rs10.7 billion.
Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah reported that around 824,008 children were enrolled in the 3,328 schools impacted by the floods. To monitor these initiatives effectively, the Sindh Education Department has developed a comprehensive dashboard that tracks the status of all 40,978 schools, indicating their current condition and enrollment figures. This tool will not only facilitate ongoing repairs but also ensure that the educational activities in affected areas resume as quickly as possible.
The Chief Minister expressed a commitment to securing additional funding for the remaining 16,480 schools that require repairs and reconstruction, demonstrating the government’s dedication to restoring educational opportunities for all children in Sindh.
