Earthquake, militancy in K-P: Over 1,000 schools yet to be rebuilt

564 partly-damaged schools missed due to ERRA’s negligence; of the 2,162 schools damaged, only 485 reconstructed.

PESHAWAR:

Partly due to the negligence of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation and Authority (Erra), the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has missed over 1,000 earthquake and militancy-hit schools in its reconstruction efforts.

This was revealed in a report issued by the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Department under the Education Sector Plan 2010-15. The report stated that in the list of affected educational institutes that Erra issued to the K-P government, the authority failed to include details of 564 schools that were left partly-damaged. The report mentioned that the schools were incorrectly placed under the head of ‘non-strategy schools’ and hence were missed in the reconstruction drive. Of the missed schools, 62 are situated in Abbottabad, 333 in Mansehra, 94 in Batagram and 75 in Shangla, the report added.

Moreover, out of a total of 2,162 schools (1,516 for boys and 646 for girls) that were damaged across the province, only 485 schools (279 for boys and 206 for girls) have been reconstructed so far. A total of 1,038 schools (736 for boys and 302 for girls) are still under construction, while of the remaining schools only 40 (25 for boys and 15 for girls) are being redesigned, according to the reported.

Areas worst affected by the earthquake included Hazara division and Shangla district, the report mentioned. It added that of the 640 schools affected in Buner, Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Malakand, 273 were destroyed and 367 were partly damaged.

An official of the K-P Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that after the earthquake, the responsibilities of reconstruction and rehabilitation of damaged schools was given to ERRA, which received funds from the federal government. “Unfortunately, the previous federal government was not very serious in the reconstruction of schools,” said the official, requesting anonymity. The official claimed that the incumbent government announced Rs10 billion for rebuilding schools, but the amount is not being utilised properly.

However, K-P Education Reform Unit Deputy Director Farid Khattak has a contrasting view on the issue. He claimed that 95 per cent of the partially-damaged schools in Buner, Swat and Upper and Lower Dir have been reconstructed, adding that of the 273 schools that were destroyed, 40 have been reconstructed so far and the remaining are under construction.

The deputy director said that in terms of damage to the education sector, Shangla, Buner, Charsadda, Hangu, Upper and Lower Dir and Peshawar have been the worst affected areas. He added that construction of at least 45 schools has been approved in the affected areas.

Khattak said foreign donors and local and international NGOs have reposed trust in the present provincial government’s reconstruction efforts and have increased funding for rehabilitation of the affected schools. He appealed to the local people to cooperate with the government and non-governmetnal organisations in the reconstruction of schools building in the earthquake and militancy-affected areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2012.