October 08, 2006

DURING relief and rehabilitation efforts in a disaster-hit area, education assumes a new role. A grammar book no longer performs the sole function of teaching parts of speech, neither does a mathematics textbook provide algebraic challenges; they become a student’s escape from pain and despair. Similarly, a drawing sheet and few pencil colours give vent to the suppressed fears and trauma which a child is unwilling to bring out. Education detaches a child from anguish and gives him/her the promise of a better future.

Thus, in the relief work following the October 8, 2005, earthquake in Pakistan, emphasis was laid on establishing schools as soon as possible. Since most buildings were turned to rubble, tents were erected to start classes. The aim was to get children out of their state of despair, give them the courage to stand up and teach them to dream once again.

“Education plays an important role in normalising children in such situations. Students who do not return to school after disaster, never overcome the shock and live with the pain,” says Nighat Mubasher, principal of a government-run school in Muzaffarabad.

Mubasher’s school was one of the 2,726 schools in Muzaffarabad that were either partially or totally damaged in the quake. Although the tremors shook the foundations of the school that housed 90 rooms, rendering it useless, the administration and students kept their spirits up and the school took only six weeks to resume classes. This time, however, they were held under open sky.

“After the earthquake, we realised that we have to help ourselves. Not only did we want to restart the academic session which had been interrupted by the quake, we also wanted to help students overcome the disaster. Children, who are not counselled properly, after a severe shock like this, never grow out of it,” explains Mubasher who first held counselling sessions with the teaching staff and then students.

Before the earthquake, literacy rates were impressive for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Literacy was as high as 60 per cent with an almost equal ratio of male and female students in schools. Almost every district had a primary school, at the very least. According to a United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (Unicef) report, in AJK, there were around 7,000 government and private sector schools and colleges, 53 per cent of which were situated in the worst-hit districts and, hence, were either completely or partially affected.

In the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), despite the absence of proper infrastructure and other facilities in most districts, a school culture of sorts did exist. It is estimated that 24 per cent of the province’s primary and secondary institutions were spread over Mansehra, Abbottabad, Kohistan, Battagram and Shangla — the worst-hit districts of the province. Around 3,711 schools were affected in these five districts.

The death toll of students in both the provinces has been estimated to be around 18,000 with approximately 850 teacher casualties. The earthquake struck right after classes had begun and while some teachers and students did manage to escape, most of them were trapped, and eventually killed, by tumbling boulders and collapsing ceilings.

In Muzaffarabad, the first tent school started operating just two weeks after the earthquake. A year on, almost all schools in AJK have resumed classes despite the unavailability of proper buildings. “A large number of private and government-run schools resumed academic sessions shortly after the quake and the annual matriculation exams were held per schedule in May 2006, with 74 per cent student participation,” says Naeem Ahmed Shiraz, Secretary Education, AJK.

In NWFP, around 12,000 tent schools are operating in the five worst-hit districts; some prefabricated campuses have also been set up.

While most schools have received tents, a large number are still without any shelter. Nighat Mubasher’s school has received only six tents, which for the better part of the year are used for hosting board exam candidates. During the various board exams, the 1,300 students of the school take classes out in the open.

“So far we have received around 4,000 tents for schools from the government but we need at least 3,000 more. As people who had migrated to safer areas after the quake are returning, the number of students enrolling in schools is increasing. Therefore, we need more tents to accommodate these students,” says Shiraz.

While tent schools provide a temporary solution to the problem, a more concrete plan is on the cards. According to Shiraz, the “reconstruction of school buildings in AJK is being carried out by three sponsors — the Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (ERRA), District Reconstruction Unit (DRU) and a number of non-governmental organisations.” He points out that different organisations have adopted schools and are working alongside the government in order to attain the target of constructing 25 per cent of the total number of schools by October 2007. The second phase will cover up to 37 per cent of the total schools in the area.

In NWFP, around 600 schools will be constructed during the first phase of the reconstruction plan.

While the earthquake brought about the collapse of education in these districts, many can now see a silver lining. The involvement of the government, donor agencies and local and international NGOs can pave the way for a sound educational infrastructure in these areas, some of which lacked a decent set-up earlier. The earthquake has paved the way for participation by international organisations which previously did not have access to many areas due to the closed traditional set-up.

NGOs are focusing on not only getting children who were previously enrolled back to school, but are also aiming at enrolling those children, most of them girls, who did not attend school before the quake. The “Welcome to School” campaign, initiated by the government and Unicef is trying to get 30 per cent of such students enrolled.

Not all villages in NWFP had schools before the earthquake; as a result students had to walk long distances (up to nine kilometres) every day, which kept away many of them. In Shegarh Council, only 36 primary schools catered to 110 villages. Now with a tent school in every village, education has becoming more accessible for students. Attention is also being paid to make schools disabled-friendly, a feature which was conspicuously ignored earlier.

Another important development has been the initiation of teacher training centres by different international organisations such as Unicef and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) among others. Since the construction of schools would be futile if trained teaching staff is not there to impart quality education, extensive programs are being designed to train teachers. Inclusion of courses on disaster management in the curricula is also being considered.

While children are going back to schools, teachers are being trained and concrete structures are in the pipeline, those involved with the reconstruction process still have many hurdles to overcome. The absence of manpower including teachers, administrative staff and skilled workers for construction work, is one of the biggest challenges in the region.

A lack of teaching staff has always been a problem in NWFP. Even before the quake, many schools had one or two teachers. “Due to cultural restrictions, poor infrastructure and harsh weather conditions, recruiting staff for far-flung villages has never been easy. With the loss of lives in earthquakes, the situation has aggravated. Initially, with the collapse of our district education office, it was difficult to recruit people, but things are finally getting back on track. We have appointed a sizeable staff for the schools, but the need for more is still there,” says Shafiullah Khan, Secretary Education, NWFP.

In AJK too, the dearth of experienced teachers is being felt. Despite the on-going training of young staff by local and international agencies, there are around 1,000-1,500 schools being run by a single teacher. “We are training teachers but the pace is slow as training institutes are not a priority for the government, which is focusing more on constructing schools first,” says Shiraz

Landslides pose a problem in the rebuilding of schools as well. In some areas, semi-constructed structures have been washed away by landslides, while in others they have put a halt to the construction work. Some organisations are also having trouble with starting the construction of school buildings in some areas where people have occupied the land reserved for schools with tent villages; Balakot is a case in point where some communities are not ready to relocate.

The odds are indeed great but greater is the determination of the people to move forward. The pace of development might be slow, but it is being done along the right lines. Educating the children who have survived is the most sustainable form of aid the government or any NGO can provide. With time, the tents will wear out and food rations will end. What will eventually remain with these people and help them rebuild their lives is education.

The writer is a staff member

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