Safer Schools Program will strengthen buildings against natural disasters [1]
Friday, June 24, 2022 - 11:26
A Safer Schools Program focussing on strengthening school infrastructure against the impacts of natural disasters is aimed at helping the Tongan Government reduce disruption to children’s education.
Funded by the World Bank, the program supports the Ministry of Education and Training to overcome some of these challenges by prioritizing works such as retrofitting existing schools, routine maintenance and ensuring new schools meet building codes.
Prime Minister Hon Hu’akavameiliku said through this prioritization, we can then invest the resources available or what we believe will have the most impact on the education system in Tonga to ensure it’s more resilient.
A proper maintenance program also needs to be put in place.
“I do hope that the students will have a safer learning environment, so they can focus more on studying, focus more on learning rather than being worried whether it's going to be there tomorrow or next week, when the next cyclone comes around.”
World Bank's Andrew Hurley said prioritizing school upgrades, dedicated asset management staff, school communities that have the skills to maintain their assets, and the delivery of resources towards school building maintenance are all immense challenges.
Survey
Meanwhile, according to a 2021 survey of more than 6,000 school buildings across Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu, between 50-90% of buildings are at high risk of major damage following disasters.
Issues identified included poorly maintained, corroded, and insufficient roof strapping, inadequate steel reinforcement and the use of unwashed beach sand in construction, said the World Bank.
In Tonga, school buildings are disproportionately impacted by natural hazards. When Tropical Cyclone Gita hit Tonga in 2018, 72% of schools were damaged, compared with 35% of houses.
“With Cyclone Gita, we sustained a lot of damages to our school buildings. The initial assessment was around about 70%. A lot of their classrooms were either destroyed or hugely impacted,” said the Prime Minister.
Government budgets often need to prioritize funding teachers, and very little is left to support regular school maintenance.
He said this is why the Safer Schools program includes school communities and Parent-Teacher Associations as they make significant contributions to basic school maintenance and materials.
A regional campaign including education materials [2] and a fun video [3] have been produced under the program to help Tongan communities understand the key steps they can take to improve the resilience of local school buildings.
The impact of disasters, including cyclones and events such as the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano have caused Tongan children to miss out on an estimated 100,000 school days every year.
The World Bank is currently preparing a US$35 million emergency finance package to support Tonga’s post-disaster recovery and reconstruction needs, including building more disaster resilient schools.
The Safer Schools is part of a regional program to improve construction, retrofitting and maintenance of school buildings in Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu.