are not satisfactory. Considering educational facilities, there are only 1274 government primary schools with enrolment of 227,905 (134,081 male and 93,824
female). Student–teacher ratio is very poor as there is only 4703 teaching staff
(2716 male and 1987 female). Consequently, literacy rate is only 51.9 % as per
Population Census 1998. The situation is even worst among female with a literacy
rate of 42 %. Being the third largest populated district, health facilities are not fully
available to all households. There are only 26 hospitals with 3342 beds in
Faisalabad district. In spite of low patient to hospital ratio, annually 7.6 million
patients receive treatment.
3.1 Socioeconomic Characteristics
We conducted survey for the collection of information on knowledge about heat
waves, their perception about impacts and adaptation from urban and peri-urban
residents of Faisalabad. Socioeconomic profile of the respondents is presented in
Table 1 to examine their possible vulnerability to heat waves. Employment status
and nature of job determine vulnerability of the respondents because heat waves
may have strong effects on those working in open environments. As given in
Table 1, more than 40 % of the respondents with urban background were employed
whereas, for peri-urban respondents, this percentage was 67.3. The low percentage
of employment of the urban respondents may be due to the fact that most
respondents are students and businessmen. On the other hand, higher employment
percentage of the peri-urban respondents may be due to the fact that they may have
started working early due to financial constraints.
We find five types of primary occupation reported by the respondents. They
include student, businessman, job holder, at-home work, and agriculture. The
‘at-home’ category of respondents included the housewives, elderly, and retired
persons. ‘On-job’ included those doing private and public jobs. As given in
Table 1, majority (38 %) of the respondents of urban background work at home for
their earnings. Respondents with employed status were the second largest (26.7 %)
and students were the third largest respondent type in urban area. In the case of
peri-urban areas, majority of the respondents were employed (33.7 %) whereas
agriculture (23.8) was the second major occupation reported by the respondents.
The student and businessman categories had minor proportions, i.e., 11.9 and
9.9 %, respectively. A higher employed percentage of the peri-urban respondents is
due to the fact that most respondents were working on daily wages due to low
education level.
Nature of the job of the employed respondents and their working hours are given
in Table 1. Majority of the urban respondents had an office job (78.7 %) with 8.5
mean working hours. Most of the employed peri-urban respondents had a field job
(52.9 %) with 8.36 mean working hours. The average time consumed by urban
respondents to reach the work place was 19.33 min whereas for the peri-urban
respondents, it was 24.37 min. The transportation mode used to reach the work
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K. Bakhsh et al.
female). Student–teacher ratio is very poor as there is only 4703 teaching staff
(2716 male and 1987 female). Consequently, literacy rate is only 51.9 % as per
Population Census 1998. The situation is even worst among female with a literacy
rate of 42 %. Being the third largest populated district, health facilities are not fully
available to all households. There are only 26 hospitals with 3342 beds in
Faisalabad district. In spite of low patient to hospital ratio, annually 7.6 million
patients receive treatment.
3.1 Socioeconomic Characteristics
We conducted survey for the collection of information on knowledge about heat
waves, their perception about impacts and adaptation from urban and peri-urban
residents of Faisalabad. Socioeconomic profile of the respondents is presented in
Table 1 to examine their possible vulnerability to heat waves. Employment status
and nature of job determine vulnerability of the respondents because heat waves
may have strong effects on those working in open environments. As given in
Table 1, more than 40 % of the respondents with urban background were employed
whereas, for peri-urban respondents, this percentage was 67.3. The low percentage
of employment of the urban respondents may be due to the fact that most
respondents are students and businessmen. On the other hand, higher employment
percentage of the peri-urban respondents may be due to the fact that they may have
started working early due to financial constraints.
We find five types of primary occupation reported by the respondents. They
include student, businessman, job holder, at-home work, and agriculture. The
‘at-home’ category of respondents included the housewives, elderly, and retired
persons. ‘On-job’ included those doing private and public jobs. As given in
Table 1, majority (38 %) of the respondents of urban background work at home for
their earnings. Respondents with employed status were the second largest (26.7 %)
and students were the third largest respondent type in urban area. In the case of
peri-urban areas, majority of the respondents were employed (33.7 %) whereas
agriculture (23.8) was the second major occupation reported by the respondents.
The student and businessman categories had minor proportions, i.e., 11.9 and
9.9 %, respectively. A higher employed percentage of the peri-urban respondents is
due to the fact that most respondents were working on daily wages due to low
education level.
Nature of the job of the employed respondents and their working hours are given
in Table 1. Majority of the urban respondents had an office job (78.7 %) with 8.5
mean working hours. Most of the employed peri-urban respondents had a field job
(52.9 %) with 8.36 mean working hours. The average time consumed by urban
respondents to reach the work place was 19.33 min whereas for the peri-urban
respondents, it was 24.37 min. The transportation mode used to reach the work
194
K. Bakhsh et al.