CONTENTS:

1 - PAKISTAN: New schools in quake-hit areas offer improved education


1 - PAKISTAN: New schools in quake-hit areas offer improved education

MUZZAFARABAD , 15 November (IRIN) - Rameesha Butt, 12, remembers being trapped
in her classroom as the horror of the October 2005 earthquake that killed at
least 73,000 people in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and
Pakistan-administered Kashmir unfolded around her.

"Our school was very old, and many of the walls collapsed. I was not hurt
badly, but it was terrifying to see bricks and mortar fall all around us. Some
pupils were trapped under the rubble," Rameesha told IRIN.

According to government estimates, the quake damaged or destroyed 6,000 schools
- making up around 52 percent of schools in the quake-affected area. Some 17,000
students and 900 teachers were killed in classrooms.

For years after the quake, children have studied in makeshift classrooms. Now,
under an initiative by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Earthquake Relief
and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) in conjunction with the Ministry of
Education, 100 new schools have been built and handed over to provincial
authorities.

The new schools are more spacious than the ones they replace, with at least one
square metre of classroom space per child. Hand-washing stations have also been
set up to promote good hygiene. Under the 'build back better' motto adopted
after the quake, the new schools are also designed to be earthquake resistant
and to offer a more child-friendly learning environment.

"Our aim is to ensure children receive the best possible education," Syed Fawad
Ali Shah, emergency education officer for UNICEF Pakistan, said. He said
teachers at the schools had been trained in child-friendly teaching methods and
corporal punishment had been banned.

"Not scared anymore"

Pupils of Government Girls Primary School Mohajir Colony in Muzaffarabad,
capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, are among those who now have a brand
new school. The girls, who for months after the quake had huddled in a freezing
tent-school, were visibly excited about their new earthquake-resistant building.

"We are not scared anymore because this is a new building, not like our old
school," Shahzia Ali Lone, a fourth grade student, said.

Parents across the area hit by the quake are also relieved that their children
can go to school in safety. "For over a year after 2005, I was scared of sending
our three children to school. So many children had died in classroom collapses,
but now there are better schools for them and we are confident they will receive
a good education," Aziz Ahmed, 40, said.

"There is no greater investment in the future of a country than an investment
in the education of the children" Luc Chauvin, deputy representative for UNICEF
Pakistan, said. "In partnership with ERRA, the Ministry of Education and
provincial authorities, we have not just constructed schools, but have taken an
important step toward ensuring that children in the areas affected by the 2005
earthquake have access to a higher quality education than ever before."

kh/ed[ENDS]


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