Half of children in Pakistan out of school for second time this year as air pollution hits new highs

ISLAMABAD, 7 November 2024 – Almost half of all school aged children in Pakistan – almost 26 [1] million – are out of school until at least the middle of November due to hazardous air pollution, the second time this year that schools have closed to protect children’s health, Save the Children said.

Pakistan has ordered all schools in its most populous province, Punjab, to shut after levels of air pollution rose to new highs, with the provincial capital Lahore ranking as the most polluted city in the world on Thursday.

Live readings for Lahore by Swiss group IQAir said the air quality was ‘hazardous’ and showed that the city’s fine particulate air pollution, or PM 2.5 concentration, was over 100 times the World Health Organization’s annual air quality guideline.[2]

In May, a prolonged heatwave saw primary and secondary schools close because of extreme heat, prompting a social media campaign by Save the Children in Pakistan to raise awareness among children and their families about precautions to take during a heatwave.

Earlier this week, authorities in Lahore ordered primary schools to shut for a week after the air-quality index hit a record high over the weekend to protect children from respiratory diseases.[3]

The city of 11 million people has been blanketed in thick haze for most of the week. Lahore was ranked 5th in terms of the world’s most polluted cities last year[4]with crop burning, poor quality fuel in vehicles and construction historically blamed as key contributors to the country’s air pollution problem.

The provincial government has made mask-wearing mandatory in public and offices have been asked to adopt a work-from-home policy for 50% of their workforce, while all government meetings have been moved online until further notice.

Last month, Pakistan’s Environmental Protection Agency ordered schools in Punjab to put children with medical conditions that could be made worse by poor air quality on a three-month leave of absence.[5]

While air pollution affects everyone, children are among the most vulnerable because their bodies, organs and immune systems are still not fully developed. Children also absorb more pollutants than adults as they tend to breathe faster.

Khuram Gondal, Save the Children Pakistan’s Country Director, said:

“Air pollution and hotter temperatures are leading to life-threatening dangers for children, including difficulty breathing and higher risk of infectious diseases. It also disrupts education for children as we’re seeing in Pakistan right now. Nothing good comes from children breathing in toxic air. Although the government of Pakistan has taken some steps to curb this problem, we strongly encourage policy makers to urgently address air pollution, including through long term solutions, to create a better future for children.”

Save the Children has been working in Pakistan since 1979 and has reached at least 14 million beneficiaries, including children, through programmes in health and nutrition, education, child protection, livelihoods and through our humanitarian response programmes.

ENDS

NOTES

* About 55 milllion students are enrolled in education in Pakistan Source: Pakistan Education Statistics: https://pie.gov.pk/SiteImage/Downloads/PES%20Highlights%202021-22%20New.pdf. There are about 26 million school aged children in Punjab province https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/bringing-13-million-more-children-school-lessons-punjab

[1] https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/bringing-13-million-more-children-school-lessons-punjab

[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/6/pakistans-punjab-shuts-schools-sets-up-smog-war-room-over-air-pollution

[3] https://www.iqair.com/pakistan/punjab/lahore

[4] https://www.iqair.com/th-en/world-most-polluted-cities?srsltid=AfmBOor0ii7kF4IegJOXJWLqU0S23IDW_lZq3u3Ngcaqoe2dj95J_sUc

[5]  https://www.dawn.com/news/1868870

[6] https://www.emro.who.int/pak/programmes/environmental-health.html