Trip to Kashmir

On Friday, April 28, 2006, I left school after my classes to journey to Siana, Hattian Bala, and Muzaffarabad in search of information on rebuilding schools destroyed by Pakistan’s earthquake.

I arrived in Hattian Bala with our school’s driver and guard (who are brothers from Siana) in the evening. There I met with Ishaq Tahir, a lawyer from Siana and who appears to be serving as our school’s representative to the government on this rebuilding project.

I learned that Mohammad Younes Mirza is the Deputy Education Officer in Hattian Bala [working under him is the Assistant Education Officer, four clerks, three peons(?), and two watchmen) and that Mrs. Naqui is the District Education Officer in Muzaffarabad from Mr. Tahir.

The Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) forms the decision-making body and is comprised of an army officer (General Nadeem?), civil officer (Deputy Commissioner, Muzzafarabad?), and government officer (Saleem Altaf?). In regards to recovery, the Army was pulled out after the critical, cold winter around March 31st and a survey of the area for reconstruction was stared around April 15th and should be concluded around June 30th, according to Mr. Tahir.

Since he was from Siana, Mr. Tahir talked to me about the types of schools and student composition prior to the earthquake and currently in the Siana and Damain area of Kashmir, where our school’s relief efforts are focused. Siana previously had one boys high school and one girls middle school while Damain had one boys and girls (combined) primary school. All schools have been destroyed. The high school hosted 300 students from nursery to class 10, but now about 150 students remain. The middle school hosted 150 students from nursery to class 8, but now about 90 students remain. The primary school hosted 130 students from nursery to class 5, but now about 70 students remain.

Structurally, the primary school in Damain consisted of only two classrooms. The girls middle school in Siana consisted of two wings with an office, a large hall for nursery to class 3, and five classrooms for classes 4-8. The boys high school consisted of a two-story building with a staff room, a head teacher’s room, a kitchen, a restroom, a laboratory, a terrace, five rooms for classes 6-10, and it seems it had a separate wing for the primary school(?).

I spent the night in a Chinese relief tent among many other tents that appeared to make up a private middle school called the Iqra Academy.

On Saturday, Pakistan schools are open for a half-day and I collected more information on school requirements and attempted to meet with government officials.

The Iqra Academy principal, Ashiq Hussain Awan, told me the requirements of starting a new school – as he had started his school in 1994. There must be at least 20-25 students at each level: nursery-class 5 for primary schools, nursery to class 8 for middle schools, and nursery-class 10 for high schools. Thus, a number of schools starts as primary schools and are subsequently promoted to middle and high school status as the student population numbers meets the government standards for higher levels. The school must rent or own its own building(s). The school must have qualified staff - which includes Primary Teacher’s Certificate (P.T.C.) for primary levels, Certificate of Teaching (C.T.) for middle levels, and Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) for high levels (class 9-10). For furniture, every student must have a seat and a bench or desk and every teacher must have a board [but a chair is not required]. Finally, the school must use approved textbooks that meet the government syllabus; many “textbook boards,” like the Punjab Textbook Board, publish these materials.

If a primary or middle school meets these requirements, then they can register with the Deputy Education Officer in Hattian Bala (tehsil). If a high school meets these requirements, then they can register with the Director of Education – Secondary in Muzzafarabad (district). This registration can occur as soon as one month after application, if the inspection finds no deficiencies in the above requirements.

Construction of a new school will be our immediate task and the Mr. Awan gave me the following earthquake specifications and costs for building his previously existing middle school. ERRA sets the building specifications but he recalled 3-foot stone or concrete walls with wood pillars and a roof of CGI sheets as requirements. He then proposed the following estimated costs (rupees) for a 10-room middle school.

Transportation and Material from Muzzafarabad to Hattian Bala (truck)
Crushed concrete = 9,000 x 15 = 135,000
Sand = 9,000 x 15 = 135,000

Transportation from Hattian Bala to Siana (jeep)
Crushed concrete = 1,500 x 75 = 112,500
Sand = 1,500 x 75 = 112,500

Wood work (2,000 ft2) = 300,000
Steel work (kg) = 1,000 x 34 = 33,750
CGI steel sheets (10 ft x 33 in) = 225 x 1,000 = 225,000


Number of days of labor = 4 months * 30 days = 120 days

Number of days of skilled labor = 2 workers * 120 days = 240 days
Number of days of unskilled labor = 4 workers * 120 days = 480 days

Skilled labor = 240 x 500 = 120,000
Unskilled labor = 480 x 300 = 144,000


Other material transportation = ??
Electricity connection = ??
Water connection = ??

TOTAL = 1,317,750 Pakistani Rupees

These are not exact numbers. The costs will vary by contractor and the size of the school. The Public Works Department (Muzaffarabad) estimates 2,200,000 Rs for a 2,000 ft2 school. Another government estimate says that a 4-room middle school will cost 2,500,000 Rs. The above estimates are for a 10-room middle school – from the principal’s figures. In any case, the government will hand all school contracts over to the largest bidder, unless organizations choose to build the schools themselves.

The principal’s brother, Muhammad Sadheer Awan, works in construction for the Public Works Department of Muzzafarabad and will provide us with more accurate numbers and a blueprint for a school, via mail, according to Principal Awan.

The schools in Siana/Damain are government schools on land donated by the government. However, private schools, like Iqra Academy, have to purchase (or rent) the land in units called kanals. A middle school takes up 5 kanals of land and a high school takes up 10 kanals. These kanals cost around 300,000 Rs. each in urban areas and 100,000 Rs. each in rural areas. We would not have to purchase any land for government schools.

On the district (Muzaffarabad) level, there are two individuals for us to contact to gain government information. Mr. Khan Bahadus Abdullah is the Director for Secondary Education and Mr. Manzoor Naqshbandi is the Director for Elementary Education.

I traveled to Muzaffarabad next to try to meet with these individuals. The offices for these directors are in a tent city, but the directors had left for an education campaign entitled Every Child Needs a Teacher. I met Mr. Naqshbandi at a ‘One-day interactive discussion on Gender Mainstreaming’ through his community liaison, Mr. Giliani – who is the government’s representative to NGOs and sponsors. Mr. Naqshbandi asked me to come back Sunday morning since he was in the middle of the conference.

After a late lunch in Hattian Bala, we start off for Siana.

I had forgotten how high Siana is in the mountains of Kashmir; I estimate 500-1,000 meters above Hattian Bala. The road is steep and narrow – barely appropriate for the van in which we are traveling. We have to park the van about 1-2 km from our destination since the spring rains had made the road too narrow due to landslides. I am thinking during this time that there are blessings in bringing a school to an area off the main roads of Kashmir [the main road on which Hattian Bala lies runs to Sringar].

We arrive in Siana shortly before sunset. I immediately head off to find a teacher that can give me numbers of students at each former school and grade level. The two school workers went back to the van to pick-up a large metal chest for their family.

The Head of the boys high school in Siana is Sardar Ali and the Head of the girls middle school in Siana is Gulzar, Bukhary. I didn’t find the name of the Head of the combined primary school in Damain.

Saturday evening, Sardar Ali stated that the enrollment in the boys high school had changed since the earthquake at all grade levels. The total student enrollments are below. The school current has 17 teachers and one headmaster (principal) – listed below.


Before Oct 8th / Current
Level / Boys / Girls / Boys / Girls
Nursery / 40 / - / 20 / -
Class 1 / 25 / - / 15 / -
Class 2 / 20/ - / 12 / -
Class 3 / 20 / 5 / 15 / -
Class 4 / 25 / - / 15 / -
Class 5 / 20 / 3 / 20 / -
Class 6 / 35 / - / 20 / -
Class 7 / 20 / - / 12 / -
Class 8 / 40 / - / 30 / -
Class 9 / 60 / 2 / 25 / 2
Class 10 / 50 / 3 / 15 / 2

TOTAL / 355 / 13 / 199 / 4

Baddar Manir, M.Ed. - Headmaster

Current Teachers at Boys High School:
Sardar Ali Alvi, M.Ed. *Source of information
Ghulam Murtaza Awan, M.Ed.
Raja Qyum, M.A., B.Ed.
Kamal Din, B.Ed.
M. Parvaz, M.Sc.
Raja Aftab, M.Ed.
Gul Zreen, B.Ed.
Kramat Hussain, B.Ed.
Mansur Hamad, M.Ed.
M. Azad Usmani, B.A, O.T.
Ajaz Hamad, B.A.
M. Sadeeq, Metric [Metric = Class 10]
M. Farooq, FA [FA = Class 12]
M. Ifthkar, Metric
M. Naseen, Metric
M. Akhtar, B.A.

I slept the evening in a shack that was completed in March by the two brothers’ family. The wind got cool as the night progressed so that I covered with a thick blanket – but the winter snow and freeze had past.

We woke up at 5:00am on Sunday so that we could make our 10:00am appointment with Mr. Naqshbandi in Muzaffarabad. Tea, paratha, and rusk was breakfast and afterwards I tried to take a few pictures of the winter supplies our school had brought to families in Siana last December, as we rushed to leave.

We hiked down from Siana. A mist of rain began to fall as we stopped at a house of a teacher from the girls middle school in Siana. She provided the numbers of students at each grade level and the names of the teachers. We did not have time to even stop for tea as we made our way back to the van.

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The journey between Hattian Bala and Siana is only 14-17 km, but it takes about two hours due to the narrow and rocky road. The subsequent journey to Muzaffarabad should take one hour but the only wooden bridge on this patch broke under the very wheels of our van. This passage took about 20-30 minutes of community effort (and the Army had shown up by the time we made it across).

I met with the Director of Public Instruction – Elementary, Mr. Naqshbandi, at the Sangmun (sp?) Hotel, but, needless to say, I was late.

After introductions, Mr. Naqshbandi shared many pieces of information. He suggested that our school write a letter to the Secretary of Education expressing our interest in supporting the reconstruction of school(s) in Siana/Damain – designating the level, gender, and name of the school(s). At the primary level, schools are combined gender. At the secondary level, the government schools are currently segregated by gender. However, in the absence of a gender-appropriate school for a student, then the student has permission to attend an opposite-gender school. In other words, the government does not have gender restrictions, according to Mr. Naqshbandi, but they still tend to have gender designations.

Mr. Naqshbandi said that organizations could sponsor any number of schools. ERRA has the earthquake-resistant plans for primary, middle, and high schools. He stated that large companies that gave the lowest bid to the government would establish the cost of the schools, but the current estimate is 11,340,000 for a primary school, 17,168,000 for a middle school, and 31,840,000 rupees for a high school. With these donations by sponsors, the government would complete everything to rebuild these schools and “No organization has a dialogue,” according to Mr. Naqshbandi. My impression of this last statement was that organizations gave their money and would have no further contact until the school was done (if then). One organization had apparently already sponsored 14 schools themselves.

The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) is currently surveying the NWFP and Kashmir areas to be concluded in June/July, but Mr. Naqshbandi wanted to make it clear that he already had full situational information on the affecting schools. He said the reconstruction of an individual school would take two to four months and the whole process would take two to three years.

After a letter of intention is written to the Secretary of Education, the government office send a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the ERRA chairman in Islamabad who then sends a NOC back to the Secretary of Education – if there is no objection, of course. This bureaucratic process takes about one month of the four month reconstruction process. There is no need to seek local government permission in Hattian Bala (tehsil) or Siana/Damain (villages) afterwards – but the Deputy Education Officer in Hattian Bala would be communication with the government during this reconstruction process.

The Earthquake Relief Fund Committee at my school will meet this Friday to discuss how we are going forward with our school rebuilding in Siana/Damain.