Pakistan’s education service delivery system has been negatively impacted by multiple disasters. The frequency of disasters however has accelerated overtime due to increasingly changing climate and inadequately prepared education system, resulting in prolonged school closures and children’s learning losses. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in school closures from mid-March 2020 to March 2022. Thereafter the floods in the year 2022 disrupted education activities and caused destruction of nearly 27,000 government schools. 2 million children across Pakistan could not access education during the time.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) commissioned this report to assess the cumulative learning losses of primary and elementary school children post COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, specifically the floods 2020 in most flood affected districts: Dadu, Badin, Umerkot, and Sanghar of Sindh province.

The report aimed to provide a detailed picture of learning losses disaggregated by gender, socio-economic status, disability, displacement, type of school, level of participation in education and districts; identify the current status of various outcomes in the post-COVID-19 period and assess variations among affected populations; identify strengths and gaps in institutional support for teachers and children to ensure educational continuity during crises; to analyze existing policies and propose actions to mitigate and manage the impact of climate change on education.

Available documents & links