How one NGO is linking water security to education

The education crisis is one of the most pressing concerns in Pakistan, but one NGO has found a unique way to keep students in classes.

In the harsh desert climate of Thar, most families struggle to find water and the search for it often disrupts other social practices, including attending school. However, the installation of a reverse osmosis (RO) water plant within the school building has proven to be a game-changer in terms of student retention.

The initiative has been undertaken by the Friends of Education Foundation (FoE), which has adopted three government schools as well as establishing two other schools across Sindh. While three of their previous schools were based in Karachi, the next two were in villages in Tharparkar and Khairpur.

What makes their approach unique is that they have installed RO water plants at every school they have set up. They have also installed solar panels to ensure that there is a sustainable method of running the plants.

The impact has been tremendous. Preliminary data collected by FoE estimates that while the installation of water plants led to 10 per cent to 12 per cent increases in school attendance in Karachi, the two schools in rural Sindh saw attendance increase by 40 to 50 per cent after the installation of the water plants.

The most obvious reason for this seems to be that with water availability no longer a burden, it has freed up the community to focus on education. It has also cut down on diseases caused by poor quality water, which further bolsters attendance rates.

With the water plant available to the whole locality, it has made the schools important centres for the community. In turn, parents are more inclined to ensure that their children attend school, particularly as mothers no longer have to travel long distances in the barren desert to collect water.

A major highlight of this social impact is that three-fifths of the student body is now composed of girls, who are often deprived of education due to household chores and costs of schooling.

Moreover, water-borne diseases are one of the major causes for infant mortality rates in Pakistan. With water available more readily and safely, the incidence of diseases amongst children has also fallen, as per anecdotal evidence from local residents. This has further bolstered attendance rates for students.

One of the parents whose children attend the school in Korangi noted that before the availability of water, his daughter often suffered from ailments such as diarrhoea and worm infestation. But now, he says, access to clean water "has improved her attendance and punctuality, and saved costs on going to the doctor and buying medicines."

FoE president Dr Asghar Naqvi shared that the foundation had also begun providing midday meals at one of its schools, further boosting attendance rates as well as health and education prospects for students. He added that they planned to roll out the meal programme across all their schools in a bid to improve both the educational and nutritional resources of their students.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2020.