More than 14,000 flood-hit schools in Sindh still await repair

More than 14,000 schools damaged during the 2022 floods in Sindh have yet to be restored, officials informed Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during a review meeting on the pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation across the province.

The meeting, held at the Chief Minister House, was attended by Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, School Education Secretary Zahid Abbasi, Secretary to the Chief Minister Asif Jameel and other senior officials.

Over 19,800 schools were affected by floods

Officials told the meeting that the 2022 floods damaged 19,808 schools in Sindh. Of these, 5,465 institutions have so far been included in reconstruction and repair plans, while 14,343 schools remain pending for restoration.

The schools taken up for rehabilitation include 2,268 that were completely destroyed and 3,197 that suffered partial damage.

According to the briefing, the work now under way through provincial, federal and donor-backed initiatives is expected to help restore educational access for more than 1.4 million students.

Billions spent under multiple funding streams

The government was informed that 5,369 schools fall under major reconstruction programmes with a total cost of Rs167 billion. So far, Rs63.95bn has been spent, and 2,114 schools have been completed under different schemes.

Under the provincial Annual Development Programme, work has started on 2,405 schools, with 617 completed so far. The remaining projects are expected to continue until June 2027.

Meanwhile, 938 schools have already been repaired under the Maintenance and Repair programmes for 2022-23 and 2024-25, with all of those schemes now completed.

Donor-backed projects also under way

Large-scale rebuilding is also being carried out under the Sindh School Education Investment Programme’s flood-affected component, which covers 805 schools and is expected to finish by June 2027.

Under the federal Public Sector Development Programme, 481 fully destroyed schools are being rebuilt. So far, 37 of them have been completed, while the overall scheme is due to conclude by December 2026.

International partners are also contributing to the province-wide recovery effort. Under EU-UNICEF support, 173 schools have already been rehabilitated. Additional work is also being carried out through projects including DEEP, SELECT, ASPIRE, SID and JICA-backed interventions.

Hyderabad division among worst-hit areas

The chief minister was also given a breakdown of flood damage by division and district.

Hyderabad division recorded the largest number of affected schools at 1,254, followed by Larkana with 1,218, Sukkur with 1,070, Shaheed Benazirabad with 894, Mirpurkhas with 724 and Karachi with 305.

At the district level, the worst-hit areas included Khairpur with 730 damaged schools, Naushehro Feroze with 494, Larkana with 343, Kambar-Shahdadkot with 294, Mirpurkhas with 277 and Umerkot with 238.

Murad stresses urgency of rebuilding

Murad Ali Shah said district-wise data would be used to guide funding decisions and ensure that reconstruction efforts are carried out according to need across the province.

He said every damaged school reflected interrupted learning for children and stressed the need to accelerate rebuilding so educational activities could resume fully throughout Sindh.