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Earthquake, flood, conflict, and the Taliban have led the assault on education in Swat, a region of Pakistan with high literacy rates. A local NGO hopes that can recover, fast “I found out in the middle of the night that our school had been blown up by the Taliban. For two years, I could not got to school – my elder brother had to teach me at home,” says Salma, 17, who lives in the mountain village of Shinkat, in the Swat valley of Pakistan. For years, the former princely state, which only became a part of Pakistan in 1969, was a popular tourist destination. But it also had a literacy rate of 46%, which was much higher than the national average. Then the Taliban came to dominate life in the valley – and they shut down the hotels, started destroying schools and banned education for girls. There were 1,576 schools in Swat, many built during the years of Miangul Jahan Zeb, the last ruler of Swat – between 1949 and 1969. The Taliban blew up or damaged 401 of them, all between 2001 and 2009: “70% of them were girls’ schools. Then as the conflict … intensified they started destroying boys’ schools also. It was a terrible time. How can you build a nation without education?” says Ehsanullah Khan, a landowner and resident of Matta, the town that was at the heart of Taliban activities. He moved to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, during the army’s May 2009 operation to flush out the militant extremist. Up to 2 million Swat residents were displaced by conflict. The military’s operation did not last very long; by July people began returning to their homes. But when Ehsanullah returned to Swat he found many of the crops destroyed and “the rice could not be sown. That is when I turned to the Sarhad Rural Support Programme [SRSP] for help.” Ehsanullah was already on the NGO’s board of directors and he made a request for immediate food aid for the region. The SRSP responded by sending supplies, coordinating its activities through a newly formed team based in Swat’s capital, Saidu Sharif. Zahid Khan has worked with the SRSP since the massive earthquake hit Pakistan in 2005 , claiming 79,000 lives, and was recruited as a regional programme manager for the Swat relief effort. “I wanted to address the heart of the problem. The children needed to resume normal life,” says Khan. “The children were being taught in tents, in temperatures exceeding 40C in the summer. The tents would not last through the winter so I convinced everyone that we must build them schools.” Prefabricated buildings had been erected quickly and cheaply during the post-earthquake construction. So, using donations from Pakistani businesses and people, the SRSP team quickly built seven pre-fab schools and rehabilitated four other damaged school buildings – in only three months, a record-fast time. Khan says the UK’s Department for International Development was so impressed with the SRSP’s work that it asked the NGO to build 100 more schools with UK aid. “I felt that was too many, so I agreed to make 40 first,” explains Khan. “We decided on a mix of primary and high schools: 32 girls’ schools and eight boys’ schools.” The Dfid funding had to be channeled through the Pakistani government’s Provincial Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority (PaRRSA). PaRRSA, unfortunately, sat on the money for a year, convinced that it could use the UK funds more effectively by renting buildings for use as government schools. But then the massive floods hit the region in summer last year and hundreds of buildings, and yet more schools, were damaged or destroyed. Then, says Khan: “They finally approached us to make the pre-fab schools.” The work began in December and SRSP had completed 25 schools by April this year. “Dfid agreed to fund the furniture and books for the schools and they were very strict about their specifications for construction. The schools had to have proper toilets and piped water and electricity connections,” says Khan, adding: “I can say with some confidence that these Dfid schools will last at least 50 years.” In Shinkat , 17-year-old Salma’s village, the people didn’t leave during the government forces’ bloody conflict with the Taliban – witnesses to much of the destruction. So, when a government-run middle school for girls was completed recently , with Dfid aid – and with proper desks and a white board – it was reason to be cheerful. Work is also being completed on a primary school. The girls are celebrating with a poetry recitation, and other performances. Ehsanullah adds: “They are part of our psycho-social counselling to help the children overcome the trauma they have been through.” Before the Taliban’s domination of the valley was at its height, about three years ago, Swat had a literacy rate much higher than the national average. Now, the hope is for that to recover, fast. In Dfid’s new plan for Pakistan , following its mid-term review at the end of last month, aid to the education sector will increase from £25,000 in 2010/11 to about £277,000 for 2014/15. “We would like more of that money allocated to rebuilding schools in Swat. We can change the future of our children with these schools,” says Ehsanullah. “The people of Swat want to recover from the terror they faced and education is the only way to do this.” Safe in her new school, in Shinkat, Salma says proudly that she wants to become a doctor. She is one step closer to achieving that goal. Pakistan Aid Taliban Universal primary education Natural disasters and extreme weather The gender gap Rina Saeed Khan guardian.co.uk