Despite allocation of Rs 131 billion in 2011-12 and Rs 231 billion in 2012-13 as Annual Development Programme (ADP), Sindh government could not rehabilitate the flood affected schools of the province which were destroyed during the super floods of 2010.
Now, the Sindh Education and Literacy department would rehabilitate the flood-damaged schools with financial support of $155 million by the United States Agency of Intentional Development (USAID) under the "Sindh Basic Education Programme", Business Recorder learnt on Saturday.
Sources inside the department told Business Recorder that USAID has pledged to support the education sector in Sindh. With its support, the education and literacy department would reconstruct the flood-damaged schools of the province. In 2010, super floods had damaged more than 15,000 school buildings in Dadu, Jacobabad, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Khairpur Mir's, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Larkana and other areas.
A large number of state-run schools of Sindh had also been destroyed by the flood-victims as millions of flood-affectees were shifted to relief camps (established in schools). The Sindh government which had allocated Rs 131 billion in 2011-12 and 231 billion in 2012-13, in the head of the provincial ADP could not re-habilitate the flood damaged schools of the province.
Sources said that education and literacy department with the financial support of USAID , would reconstruct schools in Dadu, Jacobabad, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Khairpur Mir's, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Larkana and other areas. The SEC would also support enhancing reading literacy in schools, alleviating malnourishment in children and offer technical assistance to the department to improve its capacity.
The Goal of the Sindh Basic Education Programme is to increase and sustain student enrollment in primary, middle and secondary schools in targeted geographic locations in Sindh by developing a school environment conducive to teaching and learning, sources said.
This transformation will be achieved through USAID funding that has two funding streams, a-government to government, b-USAID direct activities. The key components of USAID assistance are re-construction of schools affected by floods ($51 million), support to government of Sindh's policy reforms to merge, consolidate and upgrade schools through construction of schools ($30 million), sources added.
In this regard, a senior official of education and literacy department told Business Recorder that all the flood-affected schools are still in the same position of damage, the children enrolled there are still out of schools. He said that the government should have re-constructed all schools in same year (2010) of flooding but the matter was thrown in the cold storage, resulting in the future of millions of children put at stake.
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