PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elementary and secondary education department has identified 4,049 government schools in the province as ‘dilapidated’ and in need of immediate reconstruction and rehabilitation to ensure the safety of students and teachers.

According to the department’s initial estimates, Rs16.2 billion will be required to reconstruct and repair these boys’ and girls’ schools.

The department surveyed government schools through its district and tehsil level formations following the collapse of a private school building in Peshawar’s Dir Colony in which 31 students and a woman teacher were killed.

According to it, the structures requiring reconstruction and rehabilitation include 8,088 classrooms, 2,949 group latrines and 48 examination halls.

Rs16.2bn required to rebuild, repair them, says dept

The government has also tasked the Elementary and Secondary Education Authority with inspecting private school buildings across the province.

An education department official told Dawn that the ESEA had so far inspected more than 6,000 out of the 12,493 private schools registered with the Private Schools Regulatory Authority.

He said the inspection exercise would take another week to complete. According to official data, 245 schools in Abbottabad, including 130 for girls and 115 for boys, require Rs1.098 billion for rehabilitation.

In Battagram, 59 schools are reported to be in a dilapidated condition, including 56 boys’ schools and three girls’ schools.

An estimated Rs130 million is needed to reconstruct 53 classrooms, 29 group latrines and one examination hall.

In Buner, 71 government schools require rehabilitation, including 47 boys’ schools and 24 girls’ schools.

The work involving 285 classrooms and 75 group latrines will cost Rs386 million.

In Charsadda, 174 schools require rehabilitation at an estimated cost of Rs874.7 million. Their 430 classrooms and 23 group latrines have been declared dilapidated.

Similarly, 271 government schools in Lower Dir have been declared dilapidated. The rehabilitation of 689 classrooms, 128 washrooms and one examination hall is estimated to cost Rs1.48 billion.

In Upper Dir, 161 schools, including 71 for girls and 90 for boys, require rehabilitation of 249 classrooms and 52 washrooms at a cost of Rs368 million.

The survey also identified 116 government schools in Hangu as dilapidated, including 92 boys’ schools and 24 girls’ schools.

The rehabilitation of 468 classrooms, 10 washrooms and two examination halls is estimated to cost Rs438 million.

In Haripur, 332 government schools, including 130 for girls and 202 for boys, require rehabilitation of 811 classrooms, 336 washrooms and five examination halls at a cost of Rs1 billion.

Karak has 132 dilapidated schools, where 327 classrooms and 83 washrooms require rehabilitation at a cost of Rs727 million, while Kohat’s 168 government schools require rehabilitation of 522 classrooms and 24 washrooms at an estimated cost of Rs1.7 billion.

In Malakand, 162 schools have been declared dilapidated, with 368 classrooms and 80 washrooms requiring rehabilitation at a cost of Rs690 million.

In Mardan, the department declared 350 school buildings dilapidated, with 728 classrooms and 272 washrooms needing rehabilitation at an estimated cost of Rs1 billion.

Also, Swat’s 488 government schools have been declared to be in poor condition, with their 518 classrooms, 301 washrooms and five examination halls needing rehabilitation at a cost of Rs1 billion.

The department also identified 454 schools requiring rehabilitation in Peshawar, 202 in Nowshera, 174 in Mansehra, 160 in Swabi, 110 in Lower Kohistan, 47 in Kolai-Palas, 38 each in Upper Chitral and Upper Kohistan, 35 in Lower Chitral, 33 in Shangla and 30 in Torghar.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026