Emergency shelter in Pakistan: Children are now being changed in the chemistry lab

Nine families fit in the classroom of economics teacher Saeeda Shaikh. The school desks are piled up against the blue wall, and piles of blankets lie on the concrete floor. The kids running around are too young for the business classes Shaikh is teaching at the Government Girls’ Degree College to teenagers in their senior year and young women preparing for undergraduate studies.

Read also Pakistanis due to flooding in tents or on the roadside: ‘I was afraid that the water would overtake us’

Instead of students, the public educational institution in Hyderabad – a city of 1.7 million people – is now full of displaced persons from outside the country. People fleeing the worst flooding in the country’s history elsewhere in Pakistan’s Sindh province have sought refuge in the girls’ school. They arrived there since the end of August, about two weeks after the start of the school year. The building now accommodates nearly 1,200 people. Education has come to a standstill for three thousand registered students.

“As a school principal you have a responsibility. But I had not prepared myself for these tasks,” sighs Khalia Bhanbhar in her office, which is also a staff room. Lessons are not given under these circumstances, but the teachers still want to keep an eye on things, they say. They cannot deny feeling overwhelmed by the situation.

In the hallway a toilet block appears to be flooded. The lab furniture in the chemistry lab is used to change the children’s clothes. In the courtyard, where badminton is normally played, there are piles of waste. Women light a fire on the landing, they knead dough on the floor, surrounded by flies.

How do displaced persons end up in a school? The teachers present have various explanations: a local aid organization advised distressed refugees to seek shelter in government institutions, one says. It was because of social media, says another. Is it government policy to use public buildings for emergencies? The director was not informed, she says: the first refugees arrived on a Sunday.

In Sindh, the province hardest hit by the floods, more than 4,700 schools have been deployed to accommodate 60,000 families, the provincial Ministry of Education said on request. That would equate to half a million people. The educational institutions were ‘designated as reception centers before or after the arrival of the internally displaced persons’. Official bodies such as the Disaster Authority take care of the distribution of food and medicines in the schools. A room has been set up in the Girls’ College for this purpose.

Lal Khatoom (34) has now been in the economics classroom with her children for two weeks. She came to Hyderabad from a village in the outskirts of Khairpur, about 300 kilometers to the north, “totally panicked by the water.” During the flood of 2010, she also ended up here via detours. “Now I knew immediately: we have to go to school.”

Khatoom took three daughters and two sons, aged between four and seventeen. Her children are in “first and last grade”, she says proudly. She herself completed the fifth grade of primary education, but she wants her children to progress in school. She looks at the wiped-clean chalkboard in despair. “I am fully aware that we are suspending classes here. Only… my kids can’t go to school now. Or even to their own home.” And the school does have running water, toilets and electricity.

In the case of a humanitarian problem of this magnitude, all facilities must be deployed, the teachers’ lounge agreed. For that reason, people were also taken care of at the ‘little brother’ of the girls’ school, the Boys’ College, a few blocks away. The institution was closed to students for five days, says head teacher Haqnawaz Abbas. Many refugees have since left, returned home or to refugee camps elsewhere. The dozens of remaining displaced persons are housed on the second floor. Eight classrooms are free again, students have an adjusted schedule. Elsewhere in Hyderabad, a teacher knows, classes have been set up for the refugee children. “But not every institution can arrange such a thing.”

Disaster in education

There is uncertainty about the duration of the emergency measures. Teacher Shaikh gets calls from students who are worried about their future. The board considered resuming online classes due to the corona pandemic, but decided against it because not all students have internet at home. “We don’t want inequality in our population. It is already unfair that in institutions where there is no reception, everything continues as usual. While all students ultimately have to take the same exam for further study at university.”

Even those private schools, over which the government has nothing to say, are now concerned about the aftermath of the flood. For example, a private umbrella organization in Karachi informed parents last week about the increasing number of cases of dengue fever. The mosquitoes that spread the disease breed in standing water, including in the remaining rain pools Health workers are reporting more cases across Sindh. To prevent infections in Karachi’s private schools, students are now required to wear long sleeves and outdoor activities have been canceled for the time being.

“Besides a humanitarian disaster, there is also a disaster in education,” the provincial ministry writes in a response. An earlier official update on the flooding revealed that 7,000 schools are under water, and thousands of buildings have been partially damaged. More than four million children from affected communities are out of school. Added to this are the interrupted teaching programmes. On Tuesday, the Sindh government decided that this “difficult” situation must end: the shelter must be moved from schools to tent camps, “so that regular activities can be resumed”. Temporary schooling will be arranged in the shelter for displaced children.