School Safety
chools are critical infrastructure entrusted with the responsibility of creating citizens of tomorrow. A safe and secure environment is a prerequisite for effective teaching and learning. Thus ensuring safety of children, teachers and staff members during disasters is necessary. In the light of recent tragedies involving school children, like the Kumbakonam fire tragedy, Dabwali fire incident and earthquakes around the world where school children were affected due to unsafe school buildings. It becomes of utmost importance that safety of children is given due consideration, thus making schools safe also serves the purpose of their dual use as evacuation centres during emergencies.

Building safe schools should be a priority for architects, engineers, policy makers, administrators and emergency response planners. Among all public facilities, children in schools are the most vulnerable during disasters. A large number of schools operate in congested urban centres and are exposed to various hazards. School safety includes within its ambit structural safety of the buildings per se and non-structural measures like awareness generation, ensuring communication, school preparedness plans, capacity building of students and teachers, rehearsals and mock drills etc. Building safe schools will not only ensure safety of children in disasters, but will also promote faster rehabilitation post disaster.

Followings links discuss in brief about school safety tips in school buildings:

• School Safety : A handbook for administrators, educations officers, emergency officials, school principals & teachers.
• Model school designs for construction in various seismic zones in India
• School DM plan template and guidance note developed under NSSP.

All schools should be equipped with the First Aid Kit containing:

• Thermometer
• Roller Bandage
• Gauze Pad
• Lotion Chlorhexidine(Savlon)
• Lotion Povidone Iodine(BETADINE)
• Splints
• Tourniquet
• Kidney Tray
• Cotton
• Eye Pad
• Tape Adhesive
• Band Aid
• Scissors
• Box
• Hot Water Bottle