Construction of quake-resistant academic institutions demanded
By Myra Imran
5/16/2008 Islamabad
Stressing the urgent need for building earthquake-resistant schools, speakers at an international conference said on Thursday that structural flaws were always the main reason for the massive deaths following a natural disaster and pointed out that 80 per cent schools in Pakistan were unprotected from such risks.
This was stated at the opening session of a two-day international conference on ‘School Safety’ jointly organised by the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services and Focus Humanitarian Assistance, Pakistan. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman was the chief guest on the occasion.
The conference is being held as part of golden jubilee celebrations commemorating 50 years of ‘Imamat’ of Prince Karim Agha Khan under which a number of initiatives, programmes and development projects are being organised both nationally and internationally.
The conference is aimed at promoting the need for earthquake resistant schools and providing high-level recommendations at policy and practical levels to increase awareness on the importance and availability of tools and techniques for school safety in a larger context.
The participants were also provided an opportunity to visit earthquake-affected areas in Kashmir and NWFP.
Speakers said that educating school administration and children on safety tips in case of any natural disaster was essential but similar efforts were required to raise the issue of defining and enforcing proper design codes for school buildings.
They said that building safe schools required regulations and laws that mandate adequate code and strict quality control and supervision for professional accountability and competency. “Building safe school costs only three to four percent more than the unsafe way of construction and in the long run serves as pillars of future economy,” they pointed out.
They opined that housing students in unsafe schools was inconsistent with the right to education. “Retrofitting of schools can be accomplished at a reasonable cost and within reasonable time,” the speakers said.
Urging private organizations to involve community to lend a helping hand to the government departments in governance, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman said that it would lead to higher graph of successes. “While creating building codes, there is a need to keep in mind the constant governance deficit of South Asian countries,” she said.
She called for the same advocacy for hospital buildings and homes located in congested rural areas. “Keeping in mind the fact that major part of our country lies on the fault line, there is a need for coordination and networking to map out what should be done to survive fallout of such disasters.”
Iqbal Walji, president of the Aga Khan National Council, said that school safety conference and seminars would provide an opportunity for collaboration between important stakeholders to develop a proactive approach in designing integral policies for safer and seismic-proof schools.
The participants also discussed the proposed declaration to be passed at the concluding session of the conference. The paper says that in October 8, 2005 earthquake more than 8,000 out of 9,000 schools were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair. “Over 17,000 school-age children perished in the collapsed schools, approximately 23 percent of the total deaths and over 20,000 more suffered serious injuries,” it said.
The paper urges national and local governments to create and consolidate a school safety information base that reflects local physical and socio-cultural realities to inform policy and practice. It demands that the government should develop a school safety policy as part of their national development plan.
It further states that the government in partnership with local authorities should create a National School Safety Program and Fund to implement action plans for structural and non-structural initiatives so that that new schools are disaster resilient and existing ones are properly retrofire. “A regulatory body should be made to ensure that private schools gradually raise their standards for safety over a period of five years.”
For local government, it suggests that these should develop school safety action plans within the framework of national schools safety program and identify their priorities. It demands that local governments should seek partnership with private institutions and corporations, seeking their support and commitment for the implementation and financing of the plan.
It urges the civil society to develop school safety awareness programs including preparedness and hazard evacuation plans. They should also train student safety corps and parent support teams as first respondents to disaster events.
It also proposes that May 16 be commemorated as ‘National School Safety Day.’ A region-wide safety day will create awareness and will help to establish sound planning practices and programs for school safety. “It will also encourage media to recognize their critical role and responsibility in raising awareness,” says the paper.
The first day keynote speakers included Fouad Bendimerad who highlighted the issues related to ‘Earthquake and Megacities Initiatives’ and Polat Gulkan who gave a presentation on ‘Policy and Institutional Mechanisms for Promoting School Safety.’
Ismailimail 