Zubair Qureshi
COVID -19 pandemic has affected people regardless of nationality, education, income or gender but the same has not been true for its consequences, which have hit the most vulnerable hardest. To meet the crisis successfully, only the precautionary measures and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can help us. These views were observed by the Director General (DG) National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) Hassan Baig while addressing the launching ceremony of “Coordinated Gap Analysis Covid-19 Report” here Tuesday organized at the Pakistan Manpower Institute Auditorium.
The NCHD in collaboration with IRC-IVAP had organized the launching ceremony to highlight the key findings of the Coordinated GAP analysis conducted in 41 districts covering 16,400 household. The sample was distributed to urban and rural areas, 20 villages from each district were covered including 90 key informant interviews.
Officials and representatives from Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, UNESCO, UNICEF, Hope-87’, ALIGHT, Acted, BISP, JICA- Pakistan, Academy of Educational Planning and Management, National Education Assessment System, National Education Foundation, Federal Directorate of Education, NCHD and IRC also attended the ceremony.
Secretary Education Farah Hamid Khan being chief guest of the event appreciated the efforts of both the parties NCHD and the IRC in conducting this analysis.
She said the report would certainly help organizations in providing a baseline to study and plan the relief projects/ interventions for future in respect of such pandemic situations.
A presentation was delivered about the key findings of Coordinated Gap Analysis. The report depicts that during the lock-down period people availed health services from government hospitals/ BHUs 18.90%, private clinics 37.60%, self medication 24.20%, Homeopathic 2.20% and 15.60 % consulted local practitioners. 20% of the family member caught COVID -19 from the household patients. 51% member faced stigma due to lockdown. Symptoms of aggressive behavior, sadness, depression, substance abuse, anti-social, sleeplessness, and less willing to take care of the siblings were observed during the situation. Talking about the impact towards education report reveals that different modes were opted by the children, 6.2 % utilized Government Tele School Session, 8.40% go for online School arrangements, 7.40% used assignment based tasks, 69.2% availed self studied with parents.
Closure of schools interrupted learning of 57.50 % pupils and resulted in dropout increase to 13.40%. The report also highlighted 89.90% source of income was negatively affected by this pandemic and lockdown.
Participants provided their suggestions in light of the highlights of study. These suggestions will support in finding a way forward to both the parties.
Chairman NCHD Col (R) Amirullah Marwat thanked all the members for their active participation in the ceremony. Chairman NCHD also appreciated the employees of NCHD and IRC directly engaged to conduct this analysis on successful completion of the project.
