Implication of Floods—2010 on Education Sector in Pakistan

Abstract

In Pakistan, like many other developing countries, floods are the recurrent and damaging phenomenon. Pakistan witnessed an exceptionally high rainfall in July and August of 2010, extending till the month of September. This rainfall proved to be one of the major contributing factors that led the country to be a victim of devastating flood. The Floods—2010 have been declared as the worst since 1929 for its extensive inundation and devastations across the country. Floods—2010 stretched to an area of 100,000 square km, which comprised of 78 districts of Pakistan. The number of the affected population is more than 20 million along with almost 2,000 reported deaths. As this ill-fated disaster traversed across the country from north to south, it seriously disintegrated many sectors that play a key role in the development of a nation. Of these moth-eaten sectors, one of the most critical one is the education sector, which already had suffered to the hands of a series of unfortunate natural and man-made disasters. Looking to social and cultural setup in the affected areas, the implication of Flood—2010 on female education is far reaching. These frequent disasters bring damages and miseries on one hand and opportunity for development on the other. The education sector has been recovered with high standards of development after the Earthquake—2005 in AJK and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Recently, after the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Crisis—2009 in Malakand Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the education sector was found to be one of quickly developed sectors. Recovery from the Flood—2010 is under process. Physical reconstruction and teacher training programmes are the major components of the recovery strategy. Incorporating social awareness, students’ counseling and focusing more on female education will have far reaching effects on overall development. This chapter gives an insight into the implications of the Floods—2010 on education sector. Section 7.1 of the chapter draws a general sketch of the floods at global level and the factors enhancing the vulnerability of the country to floods. Section 7.2 discusses the causes of Floods—2010 while the general damages of Floods—2010 is described in Sect. 7.3. The indirect and indirect impacts of the flood on education sector are explained in Sect. 7.4 whereas the way forward and conclusion are discussed in the final section.