Comprehensive school safety policy: A global baseline survey

Abstract

Over the last three decades, comprehensive school safety (CSS) has emerged as a guiding framework for disaster risk reduction in the education sector. Yet, little is known about what national-level CSS policies have been developed and implemented globally. In 2017, a CSS Policy Survey was administered in 68 countries. The survey recorded adoption of CSS policies and identified key facilitators and blockers of CSS policy development and implementation. Results indicate that most countries have enacted emergency management policies that address the education sector. Most also have enacted policies for safer school construction, though less than a quarter provide funding for multi-hazard risk assessment and retrofit of weak schools. Less than half limit use of schools as temporary shelters. While about half require schools to carry out emergency drills, less than a quarter include disaster management in teacher training. A quarter include climate change and disaster risk reduction in their school curriculum, but only a few of these countries train teachers in these subjects. Respondents found that evidence of disaster impacts and advocacy were key facilitators for CSS policy enactment. Insufficient funds and technical capacity tended to impede it. Regression analysis found that regional differences and economic ranking correlated with policies to strengthen weak school facilities, but did not correlate with the presence of most other CSS policies. These results help identify contexts in which CSS policy development may be most successful as well as next steps for continued risk reduction in the education sector.