KARACHI: The Government of Sindh is planning to establish 20 new colleges and rehabilitate some 15,000 flood-affected schools in the province, a statement said Wednesday.

The plan came to light during a meeting — chaired by Sindh Education Minister Sardar Ali Shah — of the School Education and Literacy Department and College Education Department to discuss the development of the educational institutions.

The provincial minister directed officials to complete the ongoing development schemes within the stipulated time and pay attention to flood-affected schools and college buildings.

Shah emphasised that after the deadly floods — which left at least 1,700 people dead and affected more than 33 million — the most important action is the rehabilitation of the safe teaching process.

The minister also said that in the future, school and college buildings should be built keeping in mind the environmental impacts of the structures of the buildings to give them a “distinct look from the traditional designs to increase children’s interest in schools and colleges”.

Meanwhile, the meeting was informed that due to the flood, 19,808 school buildings were affected, of which 7,503 buildings were completely damaged and 12,305 buildings were partially damaged.

At present, 2,000 schools have been rehabilitated under the maintenance and repair of the School Education Department, while 686 schools will be rehabilitated with a Chinese grant and 300 schools with the cooperation of the European Union.

The meeting was also informed that a planning scheme of 15,000 schools has been approved, for which assistance will be sought from the federal government.

The college education department, moreover, has presented a proposal of establishing 20 new colleges in Sindh, which was approved under the budget for the next financial year.

It was revealed that out of 50 schools built under the project of English Medium Schools and Comprehensive High Schools in Sindh, 35 schools have been completed and handed over to Sindh Education Foundation, while the teaching process will be started in 22 schools after the completion of the construction of the buildings.

Under the said project, in the first phase, the construction of two English medium schools in each district of Sindh will be completed.