President Jiang Zemin and Modern China Formatting …

   For as long as the world can recall, the United States have controllably preserved their seat as the strongest one in the council of global superpowers- defeating the Nazis, USSR and setting their currency as the medium of trade and exchange. However, in recent events this strong hold seems to have become weakened as on the other side of the world a new power emerges, a power that the United States considers the biggest threat to their existence- the new super power China.   Ironically, China was still developing and submerged in poverty a few decades ago holding up its communist views and rejecting the new capitalist western world. Though they were not completely cut off on giving this new ideology a try, opening their first economic zone in Shenzhen in 1980 to pursue foreign investments and market based economic trade. Soon enough they realized the potential it had and once they started, they were quite impossible to stop.   It was in the 2010s that China had found numerous ways to include itself in the exporting and manufacturing industry. Every household was filled with items labeled “made in China”, however they were referred to as a low quality item hence cheaper. China nevertheless learnt, and they were fast learners. They knew that in a world dominated and feared by the United States they would have to have a friendlier approach. They started helping countries including Pakistan and many African nations with infrastructure projects in exchange for leverage and usage of their resources.   On the outside it seemed like a friendly deal, a helpful one even, but China knew that this was their way into achieving ultimate domination. The US was watching this very closely knowing very well what kind of abomination was taking place in front of their eyes, yet they could only spread propaganda about it, calling it “Debt trap Diplomacy” and “Predatory Lending”. The world did not give much thought since theyfinally had someone helping them without any threats and sanctions which they had experienced harshly in the past with the United States .   Uptil now, the USA still had the upper hand on oil and currency domination which was soon to get shaken up as well. Bill Clinton had put a ban on trading Iranian oil in his regime and so was done to Russia after they invaded Ukraine, meaning almost the whole world trading in US dollars could not buy Russian and Iranian oil.  Few of the other powerful currencies that could trade without the US dollar are euro, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan. Thus only China had the willingness to buy the sanctioned oil in their currency under different company names, trade routes which the US would find it difficult to identify and stop.   The United States has had  a history of having these geographical threats against major countries in order to secure their position. The same goes with China, with them using the strait of Malacca in southeast Asia as a passage they could close which would disrupt 80% of China’s oil trade. Chinese leaders have called this the “Malacca Dilemma” in the past.   Since the Iran war, it has come to light that China has once again found a path out of this misery and showed the world silently that this dilemma is far gone. When the whole world was panicking due to the Strait of Harmoz shutting down, China with no hurdles dropped their oil imports by 50% and started using their oil reserves which were more than double than usa. This was a direct showcase to the USA that even if they block straight out of Malacca- China will survive and wont go into an economic shutdown.   Now it is very evident that China has secured its position as an export leader, having significant oil reserves, defenses as well as the support of major countries through mutual diplomacy, and the US is forced down on its knees- especially after the Trump and Biden administration. The US has no options but to comply with China which was seen when Trump and his billionaire delegation visited China- which they were deemed to be intimidated by.

When studying the rise and fall of civilizations, an unyielding truth emerges: nations are shaped not by material wealth or vast geography, but by the intellectual vitality of their institutions. When an educational system loses its soul, and universities become mere factories for paper credentials, the collective vision of an entire society falls into a colonial illusion. Pakistan’s contemporary higher education landscape bears out this bitter reality. For decades, our public universities have remained bound to an archaic, bureaucratic framework forged under nineteenth-century colonial imperatives. Designed to cultivate compliance rather than critical thought, this apparatus has produced storehouses of financial distress, administrative stagnation, political interference, and repetitive, sterile theses generated solely for promotion. Where fearless intellectual discourse should thrive, there settles instead the suffocating dust of sycophancy. Research has ceased to be an endeavor to solve society’s pressing crises, reduced instead to filling journal pages to tick administrative boxes. Yet within the deep shadows of this stagnation—where despair threatens every horizon—the sudden appearance of an institution where the austere mountain winds shelter the burning torches of intellect, resolve, and scientific courage transforms from an institutional victory into an intellectual miracle. Cradled by the towering pines of Murree, Kohsar University, steered by the visionary and globally acclaimed leadership of its Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr. Rafia Mumtaz, stands as a brilliant embodiment of this living reality. The trajectory of any institution is invariably determined by the intellectual breadth and moral courage of its leadership. Professor Dr. Rafia Mumtaz’s academic journey serves as a luminous testament to the fact that when learning transcends rote recitation and is forged in the crucible of international standards, it possesses the power to alter a region’s destiny. From the advanced technological ecosystem of NUST to a rigorous Ph.D. and post-doctoral research tenure at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, her trajectory ensures that her framework remains untouched by the narrow confines of conventional university systems. Instead, it is thoroughly attuned to cutting-edge scientific paradigms and the demands of global academia. When a scholar steeped in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, data analytics, and modern digital architecture assumes the leadership of a nascent university, she shatters the slow, sclerotic barriers of red tape with a single stroke, transforming the institution from a sluggish office into a dynamic, antifragile intellectual unit. Kohsar University’s initial tragedy lay in its location within a complex terrain where tourism, mountain ecology, and severe winters impose heavy administrative demands. Yet through seasoned judgment, Dr. Rafia Mumtaz converted this geographical limitation into her greatest asset. She established the profound truth that sincerity of intent and granite-like resolve can shatter metropolitan monopolies, erecting towering beacons of learning in remote mountain tracts whose radiance illuminates the entire national academic sphere. The foundational flaw of Pakistan’s public universities has always been the disconnect between curricula and grassroots economic realities. Conventional institutions have rarely bothered to align their structures with shifting market demands. Kohsar University has initiated a quiet, resolute awakening against this obsolete tradition. Here, disciplines such as Tourism, Hospitality, Forestry, and Environmental Sciences are not treated as static textbook chapters; they are integrated directly into national policy formulation, rigorous fieldwork, and sustainable development models. As a newly established public university, the institution has confronted severe financial constraints, leading to unavoidable delays in expanding modern computer laboratories. Yet these structural hurdles never impeded its overarching resolve. In April 2026, leveraging its routine development planning and extremely limited resources, the university successfully procured advanced computer systems, upgraded its laboratories, and opened new frontiers for empirical scientific research. Within a remarkably brief span, Kohsar University’s Computer Science students delivered an exceptional performance at the prestigious PINTECH Expo, competing against more than 75 renowned universities across Punjab during the 2023 and 2025 exhibitions to secure the runner-up position. This is undeniable proof that a nascent, resource-deprived public university possesses the fierce capability to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the country’s premier institutions. In the same vein of triumph, students excelled across competitive programs of the Prime Minister’s Youth Initiative, engaged with Stanford-associated online training frameworks, and claimed top honors in provincial academic competitions. Behind these crowning achievements lie no bloated budgets, but sheer grit, towering vision, and the unyielding talent of regional youth. Muree and its surrounding landscapes presently stand at a perilous crossroads regarding climate change. Faced with melting glaciers, unchecked tourism, and rapid deforestation, Kohsar University engineered an immediate, proactive response. It activated its research networks, shifting students and researchers away from the desolation of conventional job-hunting toward the creation of practical scientific projects aimed at steering the local economy toward digital and eco-friendly paths. This transformation signals that education has reclaimed its status as humanity’s primary instrument for survival. These triumphs give rise to an urgent question: if a brand-new university can achieve such rapid feats amidst profound scarcity, what heights could its research capacity reach with adequate governmental patronage? Emerging universities in Punjab should no longer be viewed as financial liabilities; rather, they must be recognized as vital engines driving regional development and digital economies. For thousands of brilliant, underprivileged young minds across Murree, Kohsar University represents their sole, robust gateway to quality higher education. Materially and financially strengthening this institution is synonymous with empowering an entire region. The pulsing heart of this intellectual flight is Kohsar University’s state-of-the-art Computer Science Department and its high-tech computer laboratories, outfitted to meet uncompromising international standards. In twenty-first-century global communications, digital infrastructure serves as the central nervous system of any academic enterprise. Dr. Rafia Mumtaz’s scientific background and technical mastery have successfully converted this department into a cutting-edge incubation hub. When students within these mist-veiled heights sit before screens to master complex algorithms, IoT systems, cloud computing, and software development, the sight heralds a new dawn: Pakistan’s bright digital future shines with equal brilliance from these majestic mountain peaks. These laboratories stand as indisputable evidence that when scarcity is met with transparent priorities and unwavering resolve, world-class institutions capable of competing globally can be born despite meager state

Every few months, Punjab returns to the same debate. Dog bites increase, public anxiety rises, and municipal authorities respond with culling campaigns. Dogs are shot, statements are issued, and for a few days it appears that decisive action has been taken. Then nothing changes. The bites continue, waste continues to pile up, and the cycle begins again. The uncomfortable truth is that Punjab does not have a stray dog problem in isolation. It has a waste management problem, an urban planning problem, and ultimately, a governance problem. One only needs to travel through the outskirts of Lahore or many of Punjab’s cities to see overflowing waste heaps, open dumping grounds, discarded food waste, and slaughterhouse refuse left unattended. These sites provide a constant food source for free-roaming animals. Where food accumulates, animals follow. This is not unique to Pakistan; it is basic ecology. Street dogs do not manufacture garbage. They survive on what human beings leave behind. As long as our streets, markets, canals and vacant plots continue to function as open feeding grounds, no amount of culling will produce a lasting reduction in dog populations. Removing one group of animals from an area where food remains plentiful simply creates space for others to move in. For decades, Punjab has relied on culling as its primary response, yet dog bites and rabies continue to challenge public health. That record alone should force us to ask whether we are treating the disease or merely its symptoms. The issue extends far beyond dog bites. Poor waste management contributes to contaminated water, insect infestations, rodent populations, respiratory illnesses and the spread of infectious diseases. It burdens hospitals, damages the environment and undermines the quality of life in our cities. Every neglected dumping site becomes a reminder that sanitation is not merely a municipal service; it is a public health obligation. This is precisely why the constitutional right to life under Article 9 has, over the years, been interpreted by Pakistan’s superior courts to include the right to live in a healthy and clean environment. Environmental jurisprudence in Pakistan has consistently recognised that life means far more than mere existence. It includes the conditions necessary for a life of dignity, health and safety. When waste remains unmanaged and environmental hazards are ignored, these constitutional guarantees lose much of their meaning. Animal welfare forms part of this larger constitutional conversation. Justice Athar Minallah’s jurisprudence transformed the legal understanding of animals in Pakistan by recognising that they are living beings with intrinsic value rather than mere property. More recently, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro reaffirmed that cruelty towards animals cannot be separated from the constitutional promise of a humane and civilised society. These decisions did not elevate animal welfare above human welfare. They recognised that the two are inseparable. A society that neglects its environment inevitably harms both people and animals. That is why the internationally accepted One Health approach has become increasingly important. It rejects the false choice between protecting humans and protecting animals. Instead, it recognises that the health of people, animals and the environment are interdependent. Rabies control, waste management, environmental protection and humane animal population management are all part of the same public health strategy. Unfortunately, events on the ground often tell a different story. Reports continue to surface of dogs being shot despite the adoption of more humane management policies. Even more troubling are allegations that animal carcasses are sometimes left exposed instead of being disposed of through proper veterinary and municipal protocols. Around areas such as Saggian Pull, residents have repeatedly raised concerns about carcasses remaining in the open. If these reports are accurate, they expose a profound contradiction. Animals are killed in the name of preventing disease, yet their remains are allegedly left in conditions that can themselves create environmental and health hazards. Exposed carcasses attract scavengers, contaminate the surrounding environment, encourage insect activity and reflect a complete breakdown in biosecurity practices. Disease prevention does not end when an animal dies. Proper disposal is an essential part of public health. The solution does not lie in choosing between protecting people and protecting animals. That has always been a false debate. The real choice is between science and symbolism. Science tells us that cleaner cities, effective waste collection, proper disposal of slaughterhouse waste, vaccination programmes, sterilisation, environmental management and public education reduce disease risks far more effectively than periodic culling campaigns. Symbolism tells us that firing a gun creates the appearance of action while leaving the underlying causes untouched. Punjab has an opportunity to move beyond crisis management. It can strengthen municipal waste systems, enforce environmental laws, implement the Animal Birth Control Policy in both letter and spirit, improve vaccination programmes, and ensure that every department responsible for public health, veterinary services, local government and environmental protection works as part of a coordinated strategy rather than in isolation. The Constitution already points us in that direction. The courts have reinforced it. Science supports it. What remains is the political will to recognise that cleaner cities will save more human lives than another culling campaign ever could. Until Punjab confronts the mountains of waste accumulating in its streets, vacant plots and waterways, it will continue fighting the consequences of environmental neglect while ignoring the source of the problem. Bullets may remove a dog from sight, but they cannot remove the garbage that brought it there in the first place.

The second part of this series explained why public finance and Constitutional Political Economy (CPE) ask different questions. Public finance ordinarily examines what taxes governments should impose and how revenue should be spent. CPE asks who makes those choices, under what rules, for whose benefit and subject to what restraints. That distinction leads to an important conclusion: there is no politically neutral tax system. Tax policy is often presented as a technical exercise. Economists compare direct and indirect taxes, estimate elasticity, calculate effective rates and recommend reforms intended to improve efficiency. Governments describe exemptions as incentives, withholding provisions as enforcement mechanisms and consumption taxes as instruments of broad-based revenue mobilisation. Such terminology creates the impression that taxation operates independently of political power. It does not. Every tax decision identifies those who will pay, those who will collect, those who will receive concessions and those whose activities will remain beyond effective enforcement. A tax may be neutral between two products in an economic model, but the process through which it is enacted and administered can rarely be neutral between organised interests, social classes or political constituencies. The Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) itself recognises that taxes affect taxpayers differently according to their income and other socio-economic characteristics. They alter behaviour and influence the distribution of income both directly and through the public expenditure they finance. Taxation is, thus, not merely a device for transferring money to the treasury. It changes economic opportunities and affects the relationship between citizen and state. The celebrated Mirrlees Review sought to design a coherent tax system in which similar activities were treated consistently, and economic choices were not distorted without good reason. This is a valuable objective. Neutrality can reduce arbitrary discrimination and prevent tax considerations from dominating productive decisions. Nevertheless, even the most carefully designed system must decide which activities are alike, which differences justify special treatment and how equity should be balanced against efficiency. Those choices necessarily embody judgments about society. The idea of neutrality becomes more problematic when it is transferred from theory to a state characterised by unequal political influence. Consider a general sales tax (GST). In theory, a broad-based value added tax (VAT) imposed at a uniform rate minimises distortions and preserves the chain of documentation. In practice, exemptions, reduced rates, special schedules, fixed taxes, withholding taxes (unique in Pakistan even for VAT/GST!) and sector-specific arrangements are introduced during the political process. The final statute may bear little resemblance to the neutral instrument initially proposed. The same is true of income tax. Horizontal equity requires persons with similar ability to pay to bear comparable burdens. Vertical equity requires those possessing greater capacity to contribute more. In Pakistan, however, the legal character assigned to income often determines the burden more decisively than the taxpayer’s actual economic capacity. Salary, business income, capital gains, dividends, property income and agricultural income may all be subjected to different regimes, rates or jurisdictions. These distinctions are not always indefensible. Different types of income may require different collection methods. The constitutional distribution of taxing powers must also be respected. However, a CPE analysis asks why particular differences survive, who benefits from them and whether their stated rationale corresponds to their actual effect. Tax exemptions provide the clearest illustration. Governments describe them as instruments for attracting investment, supporting industries, protecting vulnerable groups or promoting exports. Some concessions may serve legitimate public purposes. Others constitute expenditure conducted through the tax system without the scrutiny ordinarily applied to direct spending. Pakistan’s official Tax Expenditure Report 2026 estimated revenue forgone during fiscal year 2024–25 through income tax, sales tax and customs concessions at approximately Rs. 2.353 trillion (excluding sales tax on POL products to deprive provinces of their constitutional right, replacing it with petroleum levy). Of this amount, sales tax concessions accounted for about Rs. 1.274 trillion, income tax concessions for Rs. 579.70 billion and customs concessions for Rs. 499.14 billion. These are not accounting curiosities. They represent choices about which persons, sectors and transactions receive preferential treatment, and which taxpayers must bear the resulting revenue burden. A concession granted through the tax law is economically similar to public expenditure. If the state collects Rs. 100 from a citizen and transfers it to an industry, the transaction appears in the budget. If the state allows that industry to retain Rs. 100 that would otherwise have been payable, the distributive effect may be comparable, but the benefit is less visible. This opacity is politically useful. Direct subsidies attract public attention and legislative scrutiny. Tax concessions are buried in schedules, exemptions and statutory notifications. Their beneficiaries are often concentrated and organised, while the cost is dispersed across millions of taxpayers and consumers. Constitutional Political Economy explains why such arrangements persist. A concentrated group has a strong incentive to lobby for a benefit worth billions of rupees. Each member of the general public, bearing only a fraction of the cost, has little incentive or capacity to oppose it. What appears to be an anomaly in tax design may be the predictable result of unequal political organisation. Withholding taxation presents another example. It is defended as an efficient method of collecting revenue from an economy with weak compliance. In limited circumstances, deduction/collection at source is entirely justified. Salary taxation (pay roll taxes) and payments to non-residents commonly require withholding systems in many jurisdictions. Pakistan, however, has transformed withholding from a collection technique into a parallel tax regime. According to the Revenue Division Year Book 2024–25, withholding taxes contributed 60 percent of total income tax collection in that year. Collection through withholding reached approximately Rs. 3.382 trillion. This reliance changes the institutional character of income taxation. The tax administration increasingly obtains revenue from transactions rather than determining taxpayers’ actual net income and ability to pay. Banks, employers, utilities, property registrars, businesses and other intermediaries become unpaid tax collectors. Persons already operating within the documented economy bear recurring deductions/collections in advance, compliance costs and the burden of seeking adjustments or refunds (hardly allowed automatically in

South Korea is one of the most remarkable countries in the world. Shortly after the mid-20th century, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. According to World Bank, it had a per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) of roughly 159 USD in 1960. The Helen Kellogg Institute For International Studies (University of Notre Dame) points out that South Korea’s per-capita income in early 1960 was lower than Haiti, Ethiopia and Yemen and over 40% of the South Korea’s population was suffering from absolute poverty. However, with right public policy actions implemented in the right direction, South Korea was among the most rapidly growing economies in the world by the start of 21st century. Do you know that South Korea had exponentially increased its per-capita GDP to 12,710 USD (in 2000) that then sky-rocketed to over USD 36000 in 2025? A question that one would ask is, what formed the basis of this rapid economic growth and a resulting reduction in poverty in South Korea? A World Bank report “Republic of Korea: Four decades of equitable growth” points out that South Korea has experienced rapid economic growth in 1990, where its real GDP grew by over 5 percent each year except 1998. Absolute poverty decreased incredibly in South Korea during 1975 – 2001. Those who remained poor were either had low educational achievements or were unemployed or underemployed. In 1975, South Korea earned USD 12.4 billion through trade that then skyrocketed to a trade volume of USD 314.6 billion in 2002. Thus, in a span of 27 years, trade volume of South Korea increased over 25 times which is nothing less than a remarkable success story. A journey that helped South Korea to achieve rags-to-riches status in 3 decades time. In my opinion, education made a significant difference in South Korean society and made it more socially resilient to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. As we all know that with education and the use of common sense, we make better life choices that then helps us is attaining better results for us and our families. Do you know that South Korean society is one of the most educated societies in the world? As per Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), over 58% of masses in South Korea has tertiary education. In-fact, South Korea performed better than Luxembourg, Australia, Norway, Netherlands and several other countries when it comes to percentage of masses (25 – 64 years) who have completed tertiary education in 2025. Highly educated masses mean highly qualified labour that can help any country in commencing sustainable social and economic development over a sustained period. We all are familiar with Samsung Electronics and the leading role it plays in connecting countries and people across the globe. Do you know that Samsung Electronics is a South Korean company? In 2025, Samsung Electronics declared a revenue worth a whooping USD 233.3 billion. Similarly, Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd is another South Korean motor vehicles and parts manufacturing company. According to Forbes, in 2025, Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd declared a financial revenue worth a whooping USD 128.4 billion including a profit of USD 9.1 billion. Hyundai Motor Company pointed out that it sold over 4 million vehicles worldwide out of which close to a million vehicles were electrified vehicles. Likewise, Kia Corporation is South Korea’s oldest motor vehicles manufacturing company and has a capacity to produce over 1.4 million vehicles each year. Kia Corporation has over 40,000 employees and normally reports an annual revenue of over USD 17 billion each year.  LG Electronics is another South Korean tech giant that reported a revenue of USD 62 billion in 2025. Finally, SK Hynix Inc is another South Korean company that manufactures semiconductor products and had reported an annual revenue of USD 51.2 billion in 2025 with profits over USD 18 billion. It is crucial to mention here that SK Hynix Inc is among the largest memory chip manufacturer’s in the world and acts as a rival to Samsung. Moreover, it is an important memory supplier to Apple and the components supplied by SK Hynix Inc are widely used in iPhone, iPad and MacBooks. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reports that South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) was USD 1.71 trillion in 2023 and its per-capita GDP was USD 33,121. Do you know that in 2020, South Korea invested USD 112.9 billion on domestic research and development (R&D). Globally, it stood on fifth position when it comes to spending on R&D. Top spending on R&D in 2020 was commenced by United States with USD 720.9 billion, followed by China with USD 582.8 billion, Japan with USD 174.1 billion and Germany with USD 143.4 billion. Despite commencing rapid social and economic development, South Korea has not compromised on environmental conservation. According to The Korea Times newspaper, South Korea planted roughly 10 billion trees from 1960 to 1980. As a direct result of this, Korea Forest Service (KFS) reported that South Korea’s forest growth rate exponentially increased from 50 cubic meters per hectare in 1990 to 148 cubic meters per hectare in 2015. Thus, in a span of 25 years, forests in South Korea observed nearly 3 times increase in growth rate. It serves as an excellent example that we can commence economic growth, eradicate absolute poverty and conserve environment simultaneously. The already discussed example shatters the paradigm that we must compromise and degrade environment to commence economic growth. A successful reforestation program in South Korea proves the fact that we can commence economic growth and protect environment simultaneously. Do you know that trees are the most inexpensive carbon capture and storage devices? Moreover, healthy forests help us to decrease the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in atmosphere, mitigate climate change, prevent biodiversity loss, avoid landslides and provide clean air and water by decreasing pollution. We must understand this basic fact that for our commenced economic growth to be sustainable, we must preserve and protect environment. In-fact, Sustainable Development has 3 pillars

The devastating floods of 2022 severely affected the education system of Sindh, damaging thousands of schools either fully or partially. In order to tackle such climate crises and floods, the Government of Sindh, in collaboration with international donors and partners such as the Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UNICEF, and others, has designed a comprehensive and well-planned strategy to reconstruct and repair the flood-affected schools across the province in order to provide conducive learning environment and quality education to the children whose education suffered due to the catastrophic floods. According to the data of the Sindh Education Department, during the floods of 2022, around 19,821 schools were affected, impacting very badly the infrastructure and education system of the province. The media, citing official sources, reported that major reconstruction projects were initiated with significant financial allocations. Under these initiatives, thousands of schools were selected for rehabilitation and reconstruction, and work is continuing in different districts of Sindh. Around 1.4 million students are expected to benefit from the restoration of educational facilities and the reopening of repaired schools. Under the Provincial Annual Development Programme (ADP), 2405 schools were included for repair and rehabilitation. Similarly, maintenance and repair schemes were also launched to restore basic facilities in schools. Under these schemes, classrooms, compound walls, washrooms, drinking water facilities, and other essential requirements were fulfilled to ensure the resumption of education. For flood affected schools, the Sindh School Education Investment Programme for Flood-Affected Areas (SSEIP-FA) was launched with the support of the Asian Development Bank. The project is considered one of the major initiatives for the restoration of education in the province. Under this programme, 1,607 schools are being rehabilitated across the targeted districts of Sindh. The initiative aimed at rebuilding climate-resilient infrastructure, including classrooms, and the provision of quality education to the children. The plan is expected to end by 2027. Apart from this, the Government of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have also been major partners in the drive of repair and reconstruction of flood-hit schools, making the infrastructure climate-resilient and stronger enough to face and combat floods and other disasters. JICA, in this context, believes that this initiative is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 4 (Quality Education), Goal 5 (Gender Equality), and Goal 13 (Climate Action). The programme includes the reconstruction of educational facilities, additional classrooms, and the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, apart from the repair and reconstruction of flood-affected schools. JICA has also supported the upgrading of 20 primary girls’ schools into elementary schools in rural areas of Sindh. Under this project, the Government of Japan provided grant assistance of 1,686 million Japanese Yen. The project aims to promote girls’ education and improve access to education facilities in remote areas of the province.The Embassy of Japan in Pakistan says that the programme ultimately aims to specially promote girls’ education and support students in remote areas of Sindh. It is commonly observed that the Government of Sindh, with the support of international donor agencies such as UNICEF, the Asian Development Bank, JICA, and the European Union, has repaired, reconstructed, and upgraded thousands of schools in the province. It is a fact that the climate crisis has badly impacted the infrastructure and education system of the province. Amidst these challenges, the efforts of the Government of Sindh, particularly the determined initiatives led by the Minister Education Department have begun to bring rays of hope and meaningful change.The rehabilitation of flood-affected schools is a major challenge, keeping in mind the huge number of damaged schools and financial constraints. A closer analysis indicates that some schools, particularly in remote areas of the province, are still awaiting reconstruction and repair, but one can’t deny the fact that, despite certain challenges and financial constraints, the Education Department of Sindh, in collaboration with the mentioned international partners, has been striving to rebuild infrastructure, provide a conducive learning environment to children, and especially focusing on promoting girls’ education in the province. The Education Department is well aware of the issues and challenges and believes that, the support of parents, civil society, and teachers, is of vital significance to improve the quality of education and provide a conducive learning environment to the children of the province. The rebuilding of the schools in Sindh following the floods of 2022 is not only about concrete-made walls and ceilings, but, in fact, it is the rebuilding of hope for a sustainable future and hope to combat the climate crisis.