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Education at the Forefront of Rebuilding Northern Pakistan
A gleam of light shines through Meira Camp in northern Pakistan as girls and boys receive an education—many for the first time.
Prior to the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that devastated Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and Kashmir last October, access to an education was very limited, especially for girls. In Pakistan’s Batagram district less than a third of the students enrolled in the 2003/2004 school year were girls.
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Naz, age 10 from Meira Relief Camp on her first ever day at school. Save the Children helps run three schools providing education for 1500 children on the camp. |
Camp in northern Pakistan as girls and boys receive an education—many for the first time.
Prior to the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that devastated Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and Kashmir last October, access to an education was very limited, especially for girls. In Pakistan’s Batagram district less than a third of the students enrolled in the 2003/2004 school year were girls.
Today, children in the earthquake zone have the rare opportunity to attend school, assisted by Save the Children. The agency has established three temporary schools at Meira Camp, where about 2,000 families have been spending the winter. More than 1,500 students are being taught in tented classrooms, with 26 teachers on staff.
In preparation for when the camp closes, Save the Children staffers are taking steps to ensure that students will be able to continue their education in their villages. The agency is revitalizing coeducational and girls-only government primary schools in five villages in the Allai Valley.
In addition, Save the Children is helping prepare 52 schools in nearby villages to receive displaced students. This includes hiring new teachers, constructing new classrooms and purchasing blackboards, textbooks and other school materials to support returning students. The agency is partnering with the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE to coordinate this effort.
To facilitate the transition from camp to village schools, Save the Children is recording the name, grade level, home village and educational history of each student—as well as verifying when the children expect to return home. This information will help determine the best locations for temporary schools. Most families in Meira Camp plan to head back to their villages over the next several weeks.
In the future, Save the Children hopes to work with communities, the Pakistani government and donors to increase the number of schools and the quality of education (especially for girls) in this region.
Since the earthquake, Save the Children also has:
- Provided more than 42,000 families with the materials to build shelters.
- Established 137 safe play spaces benefiting an estimated 11,524 children.
- Established 68 temporary schools for more than 5,000 students and supported communities to begin constructing 80 transitional schools.
- Distributed 153,070 quilts and blankets.
- Distributed food to more than 126,000 people along with 5,110 one-week family food packs.
- Distributed 22,585 sets of warm children’s clothing, including 2,000 school uniforms.
- Treated 19,275 patients at temporary health facilities, including 41 delivering mothers.
- Constructed 41 community kitchens for the women of Meira Camp.
