The Sindh Education Department has declared 6,220 school buildings unsafe or dilapidated across the province. It has ordered officials to move students to safer premises during the monsoon season.
The department’s Monitoring Wing identified the buildings as dangerous or structurally vulnerable. Authorities want district officials to stop students and staff from using premises that could become hazardous during heavy rain.
The move covers schools in all 30 districts of Sindh. The department sent lists of dangerous and partially dilapidated buildings to the respective deputy commissioners for action.
Students to move to safer schools
Under the directive, district officials will shift students from unsafe buildings to nearby schools or other suitable premises. District administrations must arrange the relocations in coordination with education officials.
Deputy commissioners have started identifying alternative locations for displaced students. The department wants academic activities to continue while dangerous buildings remain vacant during the monsoon period.
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The directive tells officials to keep students, teachers and other staff away from structures considered unsafe. The precaution seeks to prevent injuries or deaths if weakened roofs, walls or other parts of a building fail during rainfall.
Sindh has taken similar precautions before. In August 2024, the School Education and Literacy Department issued similar instructions during torrential rains. Its letter said classes “should not be commenced in dilapidated / dangerous school buildings.” It also sought tents so academic activities could continue at safer locations.
Badin, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar face higher risk
Available details show that Badin, Mirpurkhas and Tharparkar have a comparatively high number of schools on the dangerous-buildings list.
Those districts have also faced repeated monsoon threats. An official flood bulletin earlier this month warned of urban flooding and prolonged waterlogging in Badin, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and several other Sindh districts.
Heavy rain has already disrupted parts of the province this season. On August 3, widespread downpours hit Umerkot, Tharparkar, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Badin and other districts. The rains caused deaths, injuries and damage to civic infrastructure.
Monsoon damage renews school safety concerns
The condition of school infrastructure has remained a recurring problem in Sindh. A Provincial Disaster Management Authority report from September 2024 recorded 1,348 damaged schools during that monsoon spell. It counted 1,120 partially damaged schools and 228 fully damaged ones.
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Mirpurkhas alone accounted for 404 damaged schools in that report. Thatta recorded 156, Jacobabad 142 and Umerkot 98.
The latest 6,220-building assessment has again put structural safety at the centre of Sindh’s monsoon education planning. Authorities must now relocate students without disrupting classes and keep unsafe buildings empty during the risk period.
