Children of rural areas more affected by famine, flood, drought: VC SAU

HYDERABAD: The Vice Chancellor of Sindh Agriculture University Dr. Fateh Marri has said that the children of rural areas of the country are more affected by famine, flood and drought, while the effects of climate change on agriculture as well as education system.

He said this while addressing at a one-day seminar on “Impact of drought on school attainment in rural Pakistan a Gender disaggregated analysis" hosted by Sindh Agriculture University, in collaboration with Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, at Dr. AM Sheikh Auditorium.

The Vice Chancellor said that due to the recent rains, floods and during drought and famine in Thar, Kohistan, Kachho, and Achhro Thar of Sindh in the past, the basic education of children in these areas was affected almost, while due to climate change the school education of these areas is under threat, so the satellite education system should be expanded.

Dr. Aijaz Ali Khooharo, Dean, Faculty of Social Science, said that according to a reports, more than 20,000 schools were damaged due to floods in the year 2022, and due to climate change and most parts of Sindh, Balochistan and South Punjab and more than 30lac students were left out of schools, so government and community-based planning will have to be done to deal with such threats in the future.

Dr. Lubna Naz, Associate Professor, Institute of Business Administration (IBA) said in her presentation that famine is also a symptom of climate change, which mostly affects the rural areas of the country, where the children suffering from the lack of food and nutrition and basic education, "Since there are more boys than girls in schools in the country, boys migrating from disaster-affected areas have to drop out of school and work, so mobile schools have to be built in these situations." She added.

Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, Director, University Advancement and Financial Assistance said that schools remained closed during the recent floods and COVID-19, while online education became possible in cities with internet access during Corona, but the children of villages suffered the most educational loss.

Prof. Dr. Zaheeruddin Mirani, Prof. Dr. Habib Magsi, Dr. Javed Sheikh, Dr. Jam Ghulam Murtaza Sahito and others also addressed on this occasion, while the students also participated in questions-answer session.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023