By Mahnoor Arif
Each ton of global carbon emissions adds to the risk that learning will be interrupted somewhere in the Global South. While surveying a school in central Quetta in the summer of 2023, I saw students huddled under a tree in the scorching heat, without electricity, as the skeletal remains of their crumbling school building stood behind them. I knew this wasn’t an isolated case. As a consultant to the provincial government in Pakistan, I encountered these realities every day, sometimes behind numbers in data, other times revealed through site visits – structures weakened by time and neglect, now utterly defenseless against the escalating threats of climate change destruction.
Understanding the Risk
While Pakistan contributes less than 1% to global greenhouse gas emissions, it ranks among the countries most susceptible to climate change impacts. This disparity underscores a profound injustice: those least responsible for the climate crisis often bear its heaviest burdens. Between 2022 and 24 alone, Pakistani students lost over 3 months of school days due to climate-related disruptions. Toxic air pollution displaced 16 million children from classrooms. A UNICEF report highlights the extent of the damage caused by the 2022 floods; over 27,000 schools were swept away, disrupting the education of more than 2 million children. The cost of such disruptions is immense. A 2005 study by development economists from Pomona College, American Institutes for Research, and Georgetown University highlights that students who missed just four weeks of school due to disaster-related disruptions in Pakistan suffered learning losses equivalent to a year and a half of learning if left unaddressed. While the study draws on earlier data, the climate shocks Pakistan has faced in recent years only underscore how these learning losses likely remain severe, if not even more acute today.
Moreover, schools are not only places of learning, they are also emergency shelters during natural disasters. In 2022, several school buildings in flood-prone provinces of Balochistan and Sindh were converted into shelters for displaced families. Most school buildings were never designed to carry this burden. They lack basic resilience features such as flood resistance, adequate ventilation, sanitation, and clean drinking water. For instance, in Balochistan, only 15% of primary schools in the province have access to electricity, a mere 23% have drinking water facilities, and just 33% are equipped with toilets. This means that almost 70% of primary schools lack access to basic facilities, highlighting the dire state of school infrastructure in the region.
Despite these vulnerabilities, school infrastructure development remains severely underfunded. The country spends less than 10% of its education budget on infrastructure development and maintenance, a small fraction of what is needed to ensure schools can survive and function through future disasters. This underinvestment reflects deeper problems in Pakistan’s disaster risk management framework. While the 2010 National Disaster Management Act laid the foundation, climate resilience has not been integrated into education sector planning, building codes, or school construction standards. Coordination across provincial ministries remains weak, and the absence of systematic monitoring hinders targeted recovery efforts.
Learning from Others
Nepal and Turkey, both prone to severe seismic activity, saw the impact of catastrophic school infrastructure damage similar to Pakistan. However, through phased, community-led initiatives, they have demonstrated effective strategies for reconstructing schools without massive upfront investments.
Nepal’s post-earthquake recovery offers a blueprint for scalable approaches toward rebuilding sustainable school infrastructure. Following the devastating 2015 earthquake, which destroyed over 7,500 schools, Nepal, with support from the Asian Development Bank, launched the Disaster Resilience of Schools project. Through this initiative, 200+ schools were reconstructed and 140 others were upgraded to meet earthquake-resistant standards. To ensure uninterrupted learning during power outages, these schools were equipped with solar backup systems and improved sanitation facilities. Furthermore, community-based reconstruction initiatives were implemented using local funding, making the approach scalable and sustainable. Most importantly, the success of this initiative was rooted in community engagement: local governments and education officials received training in disaster risk reduction, and communities took part in upgrading these buildings using local resources.
Similarly, Turkey’s proactive measures in enhancing school infrastructure resilience offer a valuable example for Pakistan and other nations grappling with climate vulnerabilities. Since 2017, the country has constructed nearly 60 schools adhering to updated seismic codes. During the February 2023 earthquakes, two dozen of these schools located in affected areas withstood the disaster without structural damage. This highlights the eminence of not just having modern building codes on paper but ensuring their rigorous enforcement and application in construction practices. For Pakistan, adopting and enforcing similar stringent building standards could be pivotal in safeguarding school infrastructure against the escalating threats of climate-induced disasters.
Building Resilience, One Step at a Time
The roadmap towards climate-resilient school infrastructure encompasses the identification, assessment, and addressing of risks that threaten school infrastructure, children, and broader communities. With the uncertainties brought about by globally rising temperatures, preparedness seems like the only known truth to ensure the continuity of learning. Achieving this requires a multifaceted approach that integrates lived experiences, enhances community partnerships, aligns climate risk considerations with education policies and school infrastructure development, and leverages innovative financing solutions to bridge funding gaps. Therefore, we must:
- Implement localized climate risk assessments: To protect Pakistan’s schools from the escalating threats of climate change, it’s essential to conduct localized climate risk assessments tailored to each school’s unique vulnerabilities. These evaluations should examine structural safety, access to clean water and sanitation, availability of energy backups, and the effectiveness of evacuation plans. The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, can spearhead this initiative. Employing tools like the Summer Hazards Contingency Plan 2025, aligned with the Pakistan School Safety Framework and Sustainable Development Goals, can help streamline the monitoring and evaluation process. This approach ensures that both urban and rural schools are adequately prepared to handle climate-related hazards.
- Design inclusive and resilient infrastructure with community engagement: Resilient school infrastructure isn’t just about sturdy walls and roofs. It’s also about creating environments that are safe, inclusive, and responsive to the unique needs of each community. This means ensuring facilities are accessible to all students, including those with disabilities, and equipped with essential amenities like clean water, sanitation, and energy backups. This would also better equip schools to function as emergency shelters without disrupting education. Achieving this requires active collaboration. Local government bodies, parents, and teachers must be involved in planning and maintaining schools. Their insights ensure that the infrastructure reflects local realities and needs. By placing communities at the center of this process, we not only build stronger schools but also stimulate a sense of ownership and resilience that benefits everyone.
- Align education and climate policies with sustainable financing: Integrating education sector strategies with national climate change and disaster risk reduction policies is a stepping stone toward building resilient school infrastructure. This alignment facilitates the mobilization of resources and the implementation of these plans. Establishing a dedicated Climate Finance Unit within the Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination can streamline efforts to secure funding from international sources like the Green Climate Fund and the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust. Additionally, exploring innovative financing mechanisms, such as debt-for-education swaps, can provide the necessary capital to invest in resilient school infrastructure.
The students I met in Quetta are emblematic of the urgent need for climate-resilient school infrastructure in Pakistan. Their experiences highlight the intersection of inadequate facilities, extreme weather, and systemic underinvestment. The future of countless such children and their communities is tied to targeted, actionable policies that address the urgency of climate change and its impact on education head-on.
Reader Question
How can climate-vulnerable countries build resilient schools affordably without widening resource gaps?