infrastructure - Part II

 

Around 22 million children are enrolled in low-quality government schools and 23 million are out of school in Pakistan.

“At the current annual growth rate of net school enrolments, it will be 2076 before Pakistan can achieve its goal of zero out-of-school children,” according to the National Human Development Report (NHDR) of the nation.

This study has examined the factors that contribute to the vulnerability of state-run educational institutions in light of the bleak state of the education sector in Pakistan and the fact that 37,597 education institutes were partially or completely damaged, killing thousands of students and teachers and disrupting the studies of millions of students in the three major natural disasters Pakistan experienced over the course of the previous two decades – the earthquake in 2005, the floods in 2010 and the floods in 2022.

The study focuses on the infrastructure of the public sector, specifically education institutes in the division of Malakand. It found that government-run schools are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters for two main reasons.

The first problem is where to put such important public infrastructure. The second issue is low-quality and substandard construction. These two issues will be discussed in detail in this article.

How a school or college chooses a location is the first obstacle. It was discovered through interviews with a variety of education department officials that the relevant technical staff from this department has very little input into the selection of the site. For instance, no geotechnical study, topographic survey, hydro study, or resistivity assessment is carried out prior to the beginning of work to guarantee that the selected soil or site is suitable for the proposed building.

In regards to the selection of a location for school buildings, representatives of the education department stated that the government does not purchase land for educational institutions, particularly in rural areas, because land in the Malakand division is extremely scarce and pricey.

Landowners typically donate land for the school building in exchange for employment in the same building. As a result, the majority of people "donate" land, which is either on the bank of a river or a nullah or close to a hill or mountain and agriculturally or commercially productive. Different dangers are especially prone to building on such land. The government must make financially sound investments and ensure that the building's location is protected from floods and other natural disasters in order to construct buildings that are durable and able to withstand them.

A representative from Swat cited the Government High School Tirat in the Madyan area, which was constructed at a cost of Rs70 million but has since been destroyed by flash floods. Now, finding a location for the school that is safe from flash floods coming from the hilly area is a difficult task.

Poor and substandard building practices are yet another crucial factor that contributes to the vulnerability of educational facilities. According to an official in Swat's education, the government body that is primarily responsible for the enforcement of building codes and bylaws is both complacent and complicit because it does not perform its duties to ensure that buildings meet the required strength and standards. The findings reveal that the two main actors responsible for the overall lack of quality and standards in construction are contractors and the Communication and Work Department (C&W).

However, a member of the C&W department shared that our infrastructure is susceptible to disasters because contractors lack the necessary expertise and technical skills to carry out a project. He acknowledged that the C&W department is responsible for enforcing building codes and ensuring that construction projects meet the required standards, taking into account the region's seismicity. In addition, the official stated that the department lacks the capacity to effectively supervise quality control due to a lack of human resources.

Regarding infrastructure that is resilient to disasters, a representative from the education department stated categorically that we will never be able to claim that our schools are secure or that our children are safe in these poorly planned and constructed state-managed schools as long as C&W exists in its current form, plagued by corruption and inefficiency. It is also nearly impossible to hold contractors accountable because they are too powerful because they belong to particular political parties, are active politicians, and have strong connections to the bureaucracy and government.

These factors make it rare for the construction of such buildings to meet quality standards. An official from the education department estimates that 60% of Malakand's school buildings are outdated. The remaining forty percent are brand-new, but their substandard construction also makes them vulnerable. He explained that, despite the involvement of a variety of actors and officials from various departments, contractors and officials in the C&W department are primarily responsible for the construction of public infrastructure, and as a result, they should be held accountable in the event of a failure.

Infrastructure in the public sector, particularly educational institutions, is more susceptible to both natural and man-made hazards. School structures were unable to withstand the ferocity of the disaster during the earthquake in 2005, the floods in 2010, and the floods in 2022. The NDMA's findings from a decade and a half ago, that extremely substandard construction practices, fragile natural environments, inadequate communication infrastructure, and a lack of essential facilities exacerbate community vulnerability, are supported by the findings of this study. The report plainly attests that it is essential to "develop every single new school, schools, colleges and other instructive structures situated in risk inclined regions to better expectations of peril versatility". However, the current study, which focuses on the Malakand division, demonstrates that this is not the case.

Pakistan's vulnerability to reoccurring natural disasters is exemplified by the 2022 floods, which left a trail of casualties and destruction to the country's physical infrastructure. Due to its lack of resilience, education infrastructure frequently bears the cost of such hazards, as do other parts of the economy. In addition to being essential for academic activities to continue, school buildings also play a crucial role in such disasters and can be utilized in emergency and disaster situations.

The PDMA has appropriately emphasized the significance of school buildings for both pre-disaster activities, such as raising awareness and disseminating essential information, and post-disaster scenarios, including evacuation and relief activities, in its "Monsoon Contingency Plan 2022." The elementary and secondary education (ESE) department, according to the report, has the most employees and the largest network of buildings in the district. First aid, disaster preparedness, evacuation, and the "Dos and Don'ts" of a disaster can all be taught in schools.

Laws and regulations pertaining to seismicity, better site selection, and quality construction ought to be enforced by the relevant government bodies in order to improve the resilience of our educational institutions to natural disasters. This will guarantee our future generations' safety in natural disasters.

Ending Disclaimer: The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan supported the author's research for this piece. This article's viewpoints do not necessarily represent the HSF's official position; rather, they are the author's own.