SECTION I: INTRODUCTION
Safer school buildings have been planned, designed,
constructed and maintained to be, at a minimum, resistant
to known hazards such that they protect students and other
occupants during extreme hazard events. No building can
be considered ‘safe’ in an absolute sense. Rather, safety
is based upon anticipated hazards and available safer
construction techniques. As knowledge in these areas
changes, schools that were once thought to be safe may
become understood as unsafe.
Safety also depends upon how a school will be used.
At minimum, schools should be ‘life safe’ in anticipated
hazards – the structure should retain some margin of safety
against collapse and non-structural elements should not
cause injury or death. However, these buildings may be
heavily damaged. Even schools considered ‘life safe’ may
need substantial repair before it can be reoccupied. Where
schools will be used as shelter during emergencies and
disasters, a safe school should not sustain heavy damage. A
safe school used as shelter should be able to be occupied
during and immediately after anticipa ted hazards.
School construction includes the building of new
classrooms, school blocks, passageways, latrines, kitchens,
grounds, laboratories and fencing. It also includes the
projects that retrofit existing schools (also sometimes
called renovation, remodelling, refurbishing, modernising or
strengthening).
Vulnerability is the characteristics and circumstances of a
community, system or school that make it susceptible to the
damaging effects of a hazard.
A school building may be vulnerable to a natural hazard if it
experiences infrastructure damages that harm students and
other occupants or that degrade its ability to function as a
school.
Acronyms
CSS
Comprehensive School Safety
EFA
Education for All
GFDRR
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
HFA
Hyogo Framework for Action
INEE
International Network for Education in Emergencies
MoE
Ministry of Education
MoPW
Ministry of Public Works
NGO
Non-government organisation, including
international and national organisations
UNISDR United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
IV