When heavy floods caused by torrential rains and a cyclone struck south and southwestern Pakistan in late June, Sarfraz, 10, ran for his life with his family from their village in K.N. Shah, a sub-district of Dadu District, about 350km northwest of Karachi.
"Only my mother, my little sister and I managed to make it to safety," the little boy said.
"My father and two brothers were swept away before my eyes. We've lost everything and I have no hope of going to school - because we've been told that every school here houses refugees from the floods," Sarfaraz said.
Several boats carrying villagers to and from their marooned villages sometimes as far as 10-15km away were visible as Sarfaraz spoke. They rocked gently with their loads - including tents, motorcycles, bicycles and even the odd cow or two. According to locals, the water was at least seven to eight feet deep in places.
 My father and two brothers were swept away before my eyes. We've lost everything and I have no hope of going to school - because we've been told that every school here houses refugees from the floods. |
The rains that killed 400 people, displaced close to 400,000 and adversely affected 2.5 million, also took a heavy toll on educational facilities, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"Education is… a casualty of the floods as school buildings are housing families that lost their homes,” an OCHA press release said in mid-August.
Over 1,400 schools affected
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that over 1,400 schools had been affected by the floods in Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
In an early August press release, OCHA, quoting provincial authorities in Sindh, said "around 700 schools have been damaged or destroyed, and some schools are still submerged," and cited a Directorate of Education in Balochistan report which said "1,200 schools have been partially or completely damaged, and nearly all affected schools in the province require teaching and learning materials and school furniture."
Since then, while UNICEF has provided teaching materials and 30 temporary shelters to schools, and is supporting the repair of 50 schools for 5,000 children in Balochistan's Khuzdar and Sibi districts, it remains concerned about nearly 70,000 primary school children missing out on quality education.
 Photo: Adnan Sipra/IRIN  |
| Children such as these want to go to school but are unable to. According to UNICEF , 139 school buildings in Sindh and Balochistan are being used as shelter by families that lost their homes in the floods |
With schools having re-opened across the rest of the country in August, education, or access to it, remains a big problem in the flood-affected areas.
According to another UNICEF estimate, 139 school buildings in Sindh and Balochistan are being used as shelter by families that lost their homes in the floods, making it impossible for aspiring scientists like 10-year-old Sarfaraz to continue their education.
"For over two months, my mother, sister and I have been unable to get more than one meal a day," the boy said.
"I want to study so I can become a scientist but how can I even think of studying when we don't have food or a home or medical help? Plus, there's no school to go to. Does that mean I can't study any more? Who's going to help us?" he asked.
UN flash appeal only 20 percent met
In a report issued last week, OCHA said over 250,000 people were still displaced and living in informal settlements alongside roads and in schools.
An OCHA spokesperson in New York said a UN flash appeal for US$38 million, which had only been 20 percent met since it was first made in July, needed to be heeded if a worsening situation was to be avoided.
UNICEF, as part of this coordinated UN appeal, sought $6.3 million, and water and sanitation interventions have been fully funded, but the education component - to restore quality education for 20,000 children - had only received, by early August, $60,000 out of the $872,000 sought.
“A pressing issue”
In the interim, UNICEF, through its partnerships with local education authorities, has already distributed 80 school-in-the-box kits for three months in Balochistan after school equipment was washed away by the floods.
Each kit contains learning and teaching materials for 80 students and a teacher. Depending on the funds available, UNICEF and its partners have planned to provide 200 temporary shelters to 148 significantly damaged schools to ensure that 7,400 children have access to a protective learning environment, and the agency will support the rehabilitation of 250 partially damaged schools.
School enrolment rates in Balochistan and Sindh are already the lowest in Pakistan , particularly for girls - only one out of five girls goes to primary school in Balochistan - according to UNICEF. Martin Mogwanja, the agency's Pakistan representative, pointed out the need for urgency, calling education "a pressing issue".
"We risk losing the already very few children that were enrolled in primary schools if we do not act now," Mogwanja said in a statement in August.
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