Citation

Paci-Green R, Pandey B, Gryc H, Ireland N, Torres J, Young M. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2020; 43: e101384.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101384

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Over the last two decades, millions of classrooms have been built through such efforts as the global Education for All campaign and the Millennium Development Goals. Community-based school construction is prevalent in areas where the onus of education has traditionally been on the community or where governments has devolved decision-making to subnational or local bodies. Interviews with 58 practitioners with expertise in community-based construction in Africa, Latin America, and Asia illuminate both the challenges and benefits of community-based approaches. These practitioners sought to achieve the twin goal of ensuring children have access to educational facilities and ensuring such facilities are able to withstand natural hazards without costly damage that can kill, injure children and school personnel, or disrupt education. Practitioners found that community-based approaches to safer school construction can support local livelihoods and build capacity; the approach can also increase the skills of local stakeholders for maintaining the school after project completion. It also helps develop local capacity for disaster risk management. However, practitioners noted that introduction of new materials and construction techniques, which may be necessary to achieve hazard-resistant construction, were sometimes resisted or ineffectively implemented. Other times, decisions at the design stage did not adequately reflect field realities, increasing risk to future occupants. Overall, reduction in labor and material costs often came with slower construction and higher costs devoted to local training and oversight. The insights help identify key principles for community-based construction that can help ensure safer schools and increased community capacity for disaster risk reduction.

Language: en

Keywords

Comprehensive school safety; disasters; education; school construction