- Friday, March 07, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
In a shocking revelation, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) on Thursday (3) said two million children in Pakistan remained deprived of education as severe flooding destroyed 27,000 schools in the South Asian nation.
“Almost overnight, millions of Pakistan’s children lost family members, homes, safety and their education, under the most traumatic circumstances,” Pakistan’s major daily Dawn quoted Unicef’s global director of education Robert Jenkins as saying.
He recently returned to New York after visiting the flood-devastated areas of Pakistan.
More than 1,700 people have been killed in the natural disaster while nearly 13,000 have been injured. Besides, several millions have been displaced.
“More than two months since the devastating floods engulfed large areas of the country, the tops of school buildings are only just becoming visible in some of the flood-hit areas. It is estimated that it will be weeks, even months before the flood waters completely subside,” the Unicef official said.
“The longer schools remain closed, the greater the risk of children dropping out altogether, increasing their likelihood of being forced into child labour and child marriage, and exposure to other forms of exploitation and abuse,” he added.
He added that the Unicef had set up more than 500 temporary learning centres in the worst-hit districts and supported teachers and children with education materials. The world body is also training teachers on psychosocial care and health screenings to support the children mentally and physically.
