Sindh to establish 20 new colleges, rehabilitating 15,000 schools in flood-hit areas.

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

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...