Disaster risk reduction approach in building resilience for education sector in central Viet Nam

The severe damages of natural disasters on schools and children have considerable implications for several national agendas, frameworks and programs which mainly focus on disaster risk reduction (DRR) education. In this regard, this study focuses on promotion of DRR education in terms of safer schools, enhancement of resilience capacity, and reduction of losses from disasters. In order to do that, a methodology was developed aiming to measure the level of disaster resilience at school level, which was also applied for the elementary education system in Central Viet Nam. The assessment tool in this study is developed through a combination of climate disaster resilience indexes and the 16 tasks of Hyogo Framework for Action designed for education. It looks at five dimensions namely physical, human resource, institutional, external relationship, and natural conditions with each dimension characterized by three parameters defining them more in details. In this study, the method to develop a tool for measuring the level of disaster resilience at school level is discussed and the approach to applying it to the elementary education system of Central Viet Nam is demonstrated. Data collected from this tool are used to map the position of schools individually and of the education system in the level of climate disaster resilience. By assessing the level of educational resilience, it provides school with an effective way to prioritize actions and utilize the internal and external resources in responding to disaster, and policy-makers with a means to promoting DRR education at school level.