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ORIGINAL PAPER Climate disaster resilience of the education sector in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam Thi My Thi Tong Rajib Shaw Yukiko Takeuchi Received: 5 October 2011 / Accepted: 31 March 2012 / Published online: 21 April 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 Abstract Recognizing the importance of building disaster resilience for education sector, this study aims to develop a methodology to measure the level of educational resilience to cope with natural disasters and is then applied in Central Vietnam. The assessment tool in this paper is developed through a combination of climate disaster resilience indexes and the 16 tasks of Hyogo framework for action designed for education sector. It looks at five dimensions namely physical conditions, human resources, institutional issues, external relationships, and natural conditions, with each dimension characterized by three param- eters and five variables. Findings from this study provide important insights into enhancing resilience of the education system in Thua Thien Hue at the provincial, local, and school levels. By giving the overall resilience situation, it can help policy-makers and practitio- ners in developing an effective plan to increase the level of educational resilience. In addition, it provides the School Management Board with a means to assess the school’s resilience level and set out priorities that need to be focused on with regard to the improvement of school safety and disaster risk reduction education. Keywords Climate disaster Á Resilience Á Disaster risk reduction Á Education Á School 1 Introduction Extensive damages caused by climatic disasters affect every sector of society and set back socio-economic development all over the world, especially in developing countries. Nine out of ten natural disasters around the world have been a result of extreme weather and T. M. T. Tong (&) Á R. Shaw Á Y. Takeuchi Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan e-mail: [email protected] R. Shaw e-mail: [email protected] Y. Takeuchi e-mail: [email protected] 123 Nat Hazards (2012) 63:685–709 DOI 10.1007/s11069-012-0178-5

Climate Disaster Resilience of Education

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Page 1: Climate Disaster Resilience of Education

ORI GIN AL PA PER

Climate disaster resilience of the education sectorin Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam

Thi My Thi Tong • Rajib Shaw • Yukiko Takeuchi

Received: 5 October 2011 / Accepted: 31 March 2012 / Published online: 21 April 2012� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract Recognizing the importance of building disaster resilience for education sector,

this study aims to develop a methodology to measure the level of educational resilience to

cope with natural disasters and is then applied in Central Vietnam. The assessment tool in

this paper is developed through a combination of climate disaster resilience indexes and the

16 tasks of Hyogo framework for action designed for education sector. It looks at five

dimensions namely physical conditions, human resources, institutional issues, external

relationships, and natural conditions, with each dimension characterized by three param-

eters and five variables. Findings from this study provide important insights into enhancing

resilience of the education system in Thua Thien Hue at the provincial, local, and school

levels. By giving the overall resilience situation, it can help policy-makers and practitio-

ners in developing an effective plan to increase the level of educational resilience. In

addition, it provides the School Management Board with a means to assess the school’s

resilience level and set out priorities that need to be focused on with regard to the

improvement of school safety and disaster risk reduction education.

Keywords Climate disaster � Resilience � Disaster risk reduction � Education � School

1 Introduction

Extensive damages caused by climatic disasters affect every sector of society and set back

socio-economic development all over the world, especially in developing countries. Nine

out of ten natural disasters around the world have been a result of extreme weather and

T. M. T. Tong (&) � R. Shaw � Y. TakeuchiGraduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,Kyoto 606-8501, Japane-mail: [email protected]

R. Shawe-mail: [email protected]

Y. Takeuchie-mail: [email protected]

123

Nat Hazards (2012) 63:685–709DOI 10.1007/s11069-012-0178-5

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climate events in the last 50 years (WMO 2009). In recent years, there has been growing

evidence of severe damages from climatic disasters on the education sector in terms of

student lives and school collapse. In 2008, Myanmar was struck by Cyclone Nargis which

resulted in a loss of more than 140,000 lives and damages worth billions of dollars. It was

reported that more than 4,000 schools were destroyed and about 600,000 children were

affected (UNICEF 2009). The destroyed school buildings and damaged facilities and

equipment are among those which limit children’s access to education. Following a

disaster, students can be out of school for weeks, months, or even years. Thus, the edu-

cation sector is strongly affected not only during but also on the aftermath of a disaster due

to educational discontinuity and recovery.

Under the Hyogo framework for action (HFA), education is identified as key to mitigate

the impact of natural disasters. In particular, the concept of disaster risk reduction (DRR)

using knowledge, innovation, and education to build a culture of safety and increase

resilience has been highlighted (UN/ISDR 2005b). DRR education plays a crucial role in

many developing countries, where school education is often underdeveloped, thus limiting

children’s capacity to withstand natural hazards (Petal 2009). The importance of DRR

education has been emphasized to achieve sustainability within community (UN/ISDR

2006a).

The education sector is one of the most affected sectors by climatic disasters in Vietnam

(MoET Vietnam 2011). The impacts of flood in communities in Central Vietnam go

beyond damages to buildings and infrastructures. It also impacts livelihoods, health, and

education (Shaw 2006). Recently, many initiatives have been implemented to promote

DRR education in Vietnam. The National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management up to

2020 has a component on integrating DRR into school curriculum (GoV 2007). In its effort

to increase education and raise public awareness of climate change, the Government tasked

the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) with developing climate change education

and training programs at all levels for 2009–2015. Toward this goal, the MoET has

developed an Action Plan on Response to Climate Change and a project to mainstream

climate change response into educational programs for 2011–2015 (MoET Vietnam 2011).

However, current level of DRR education is still inadequate, only a few pilot projects in

high-risk areas have introduced DRR education into schools. The main reasons for this are

limited human resource and facility capacity. In addition, there is a lack of awareness on

the importance of DRR education as well as safer schools among the provincial and

national policy-makers and stakeholders.

Realizing the crucial role of DRR education, there is a need to focus on implementation

of DRR education in terms of safer schools, enhancement of resilience capacity, and

reduction of losses from disasters. As the inherent attribute of education lies in the inter-

relation from management level of policy-makers and school managers to practice level of

students and communities, it is important to develop a comprehensive approach to pro-

moting DRR education at both policy and school levels. Besides, when considering DRR

education, integration of DRR into education curricula only is not enough to bring about

meaningful risk reduction. It should also include related issues such as structural and non-

structural safety, legislative basis, management mechanism, qualified human resources,

sufficient funding, strong collaboration, proper warning system, and risk assessment,

among others. In this regard, this study focuses on the multi-dimensions of DRR education

including physical conditions, human resources, institutional issues, external relationships,

and natural conditions. It attempts to measure the level of climatic disaster resilience of

schools using a set of indicators, which is developed mainly based on climate disaster

indexes and the 16 tasks of HFA designed for the education sector (Gwee et al. 2011).

686 Nat Hazards (2012) 63:685–709

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In this paper, the method to develop a tool for measuring the level of educational disaster

resilience is discussed and the approach to applying it to the education system of Central

Vietnam 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.

Finally, findings from this study provide information for educators and policy-makers to

develop an effective plan to raise awareness and strengthen capacity of stakeholders to

respond to disasters.

2 Concept of disaster resilience applied to the education sector

The concept of resilience was first introduced in ecology to describe the persistence of

natural systems in the face of changes (Holling 1973). It was then applied to social studies

in order to describe the behavioral response of communities, institutions, and economies to

hazardous events (Timmerman et al. 1982). The link between social resilience and eco-

logical resilience was also investigated in Adger’s studies (Adger 1997, 2000). Handmer

and Dovers (1996) develop the term institutional resilience and provide a framework for

considering the rigidity and inadequacy of present institutional responses to global envi-

ronmental change. The term of educational resilience is defined by Bernard (1991) as a set

of qualities or protective mechanisms that give rise to successful adaptation despite the

presence of high-risk factors during the course of development. It is also described as a

dynamic process that occurs within a context and is the result of the person’s interaction

with his or her environment (Rutter 1995). According to Cefai (2008), most studies on

educational resilience have mainly concentrated on the academic achievement of children

coming from adverse environments. However, in this study, educational resilience is

considered as strategies and actions to strengthen educational capacities in order to min-

imize losses from natural hazards.

According to Mileti (1999) (as cited in Cutter et al. 2010, p 1), resilience is the ability of

a community to recover by means of its own resources. In addition, Twigg (2007) also

pointed out the characteristics of a system or community resilience as capacity to absorb

stress through resistance or adaptation; capacity to manage or maintain certain basic

functions and structures during disastrous events; and capacity to recover or ‘‘bounce

back’’ after an event. Specifically, disaster resilience is characterized by three main

properties, namely (1) the speed of recovery at which a system can recover after disaster,

(2) the magnitude of an event relative to a threshold that can be absorbed before a system

changes its structure by changing the processes and variables that control it, and (3) the

capacity to learn from and to create new things from disaster, and to transform. For this

reason, it may be helpful to think of educational resilience as efforts of education system to

absorb, manage, and recover from impacts of disasters using its own resources. DRR

education therefore can be referred to as the application of DRR measures in the education

sector toward achieving resilience.

With regard to the interaction between DRR education and community resilience, Petal

(2008) suggests that the goal of developing ‘‘disaster-resilient communities is widely

understood to depend on the success of DRR education’’. Additionally, Paton (2005)

argues that DRR education should be integrated with community development initiatives

to increase resilience, facilitate self-help capacities so as to reduce reliance on external

response and recovery resources. Recently, significant efforts on DRR education have been

implemented in order to build educational resilience under the three umbrellas of ESD,

EFA (Education for All), and HFA. The campaign ‘‘Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at

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School’’ in 2006–2007 reaffirms the Priority 3 of the HFA on use knowledge, innovation,

and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels (UN/ISDR 2006b).

Responding to this campaign, the Ahmedabad Action Agenda for School Safety was

adopted in 2007 which aims to achieve ‘‘Zero Mortality of Children in School from

Preventable disasters by the year 2015’’ (Ahmedabad Action Agenda for School Safety

2007). In the same year in October, the Bangkok Action Agenda was established which

prioritized integration of DRR into school education, strengthening disaster education for

community resilience, making school safer, and empowering children for DRR (Bangkok

Action Agenda 2007). In 2008, the International Conference on School Safety held in

Islamabad issued the Islamabad Declaration on School Safety which tries to enhance

disaster resilience at schools (Islamabad Declaration on School Safety 2008). Furthermore,

examples of the application of the five priorities of HFA can be seen through Myanmar’s

Ministry of Education initiative undertaken together with UNESCO in developing the

Myanmar Education Recovery Programme Initiative which seeks to enhance resilience in

the education sector (UNESCO 2010). Also, in the study on integrating DRR in the

education sector in Yunlin County, Gwee et al. (2011) propose 16 tasks of HFA relevant

for the education sector in terms of enhancing educational resilience and reducing losses

from disasters.

3 Methodology

This section discusses the methodology used to develop a set of indicators and the scoring

process. In the DRR field, there is a consensus that resilience is a multifaceted concept

which includes elements on social, economic, institutional, infrastructural, ecological, and

community dimensions (Cutter et al. 2010). Using a set of indicators to measure climate

resilience, Sivell et al. (2008) propose three aspects of sustainability: social, economic, and

natural/environmental. Joerin and Shaw (2010) suggest five dimensions namely physical,

social, economic, institutional, and natural which are important in assessing climate

disaster resilience. Another set of indicators developed recently to measure baseline

conditions leading to disaster resilience within communities also focuses on the 5 com-

ponents of social, economic, institutional, infrastructure resilience, and community capital

(Cutter et al. 2010). In addition, there are many initiatives that are implemented as

responses to the UN Decade of ESD’s (2005) call to integrate the principles, values, and

practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning to address

the social, economic, cultural, and environmental problems of the first twenty-first century.

Adapting the 16 tasks of HFA for the education sector developed by Gwee et al. (2011),

this study defines the five dimensions on the measurement of climate disaster resilience of

schools based on the local context of Central Vietnam including physical conditions,

human resources, institutional issues, external relationships, and natural conditions.

Because of the unique characteristic of the public education system as being a non-profit

entity, economic issues are excluded.

The second step in this method is selection of variables that are representative of the

general conditions influencing resilience and are compatible with the local context of the

education system in Central Vietnam. As mentioned in several international and national

agendas, frameworks, conferences, as well as UN programs, DRR education is a multi-

faceted issue which encompasses far more than school curriculum but school safety, risk

assessment, availability of human resources, collaboration, and network among stake-

holders, etc. Therefore, in this part, the physical conditions, human resources, and external

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relationships are generalized for other areas while the institutional issues and natural

conditions are specific to Central Vietnam. The institutional issue in this study is embedded

within school context, thus it reflexes how school manages itself in the improvement of

disaster resilience under the local context of culture, history, and development. Also, the

natural conditions are developed along with the natural conditions in Central Vietnam,

which is prone to disasters such as flood, typhoon, heat waves, sea intrusion, and drought.

Table 1 shows the set of indicators including the five dimensions of human resources,

institutional issues, external relationships, and natural conditions, and each of them is

further explained by 3 parameters and 15 variables (Table 1).

3.1 Justification of parameters and variables

3.1.1 Physical conditions

The School building provides an overall structural assessment in terms of the regular checks

on school buildings, application of safety building code, existence of emergency exit doors,

and quality of evacuation place. There is a growing awareness on the importance of school

design due to huge negative impacts on education caused by the malfunction of school

buildings’ structure and facilities during a disaster. The DRR Begins at Schools Campaign

implemented by UN/ISDR in 2006–2007 emphasizes on promoting safe construction of

school buildings. Accordingly, the Coalition for Global School Safety and Disaster Pre-

vention Education (COGSS) takes disaster-resistant school infrastructure as one among four

main areas to focus on (COGSS and DPE 2008). Furthermore, school building safety is one

of the first priorities clarified in the Children’s Charter where children prioritize education,

want their schools to be safe places, and do not want their education to be interrupted after

disasters (UN/ISDR 2011). As mentioned in the Guidance notes on safer school con-

struction, the use of the school will be affected if a school is built above flood elevation, yet

access routes are inundated. Evacuation routes are, thus, equally important to ensure people

are not trapped in school buildings (INEE and GFDRR 2009). In addition, previous

disaster’s damage to infrastructure is assessed to understand the current level of damage and

is linked to their capacity to sustain and recover from future disasters.

The Facilities and equipment tests the physical conditions of non-structural infra-

structure. The importance of risk assessment and risk identification in raising awareness

and enhancing knowledge based on the local context has been highlighted in the Priority 2

of HFA (UN/ISDR 2005b). Carrying out regular check on facilities and equipment is very

important for teachers and students to understand their school’s situation and potential risk

toward a disaster. Similarly, the provision of emergency supplies as well as eco-equipment

system is highlighted. This parameter also examines the previous damage to school

facilities and equipment and the speed of recovery process which are calculated by the time

required to restore a school system to pre-disaster level of functionality.

The Hygienic and environmental conditions of school measures the school’s awareness

on environmental problems through the environmental protection campaign held in school.

Petal (2009) mentions that the mission of education about disaster is to convey and

understand the natural and environmental conditions as well as the human action and

inaction that lead to disaster. Besides, it is necessary to properly check and arrange for

hazardous materials before a disaster occurs in order to enhance safety and minimize

economic losses during an event. Moreover, the hygienic conditions in school with respect

to food safety, garbage collection, and recycle system are assessed, as these will pose a

greater threat to student health if not treated well before and after a disaster.

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Table 1 Parameters and variables used to measure disaster resilience of schools

Dimension Parameter Variables

Physicalconditions

School buildings Regular check on school buildings

Safety building codes

Emergency exit door

Evacuation shelter

Damage of infrastructure by disaster

Facilities and equipment Regular check on facilities and equipment

Damage of facilities and equipment by disaster

Emergency supplies (emergency bag, storagefood, water…)

Renovation/repair damaged facilities andequipment

Eco-facilities/equipment system

Hygienic and environmentalconditions of school

Environmental protection campaign

Regular check on hazardous materials

Food safety conditions

Collected garbage

Recycle system

Humanresources

Teachers and staff Affected by disaster

Knowledge about disaster

Disaster training program for teachers and staff

Participation in disaster program

Sharing of disaster preparedness plan forteachers and staff

Students Affected by disaster

Knowledge about disaster

Disaster training program for students

Participation in disaster program

Sharing of disaster preparedness plan forstudents

Parents/Guardians Parent-Teacher association meeting

Disaster training program for parents

School-home emergency notification

Sharing of disaster preparedness plan forparents

Involvement of parents in disaster activities

Institutionalissues

Planning Incorporation of disaster components intoschool planning

Incorporation of disaster components intoschool regulation

Incorporation of disaster components intoschool syllabus

Preparedness and emergency management plan

Recovery management plan

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Table 1 continued

Dimension Parameter Variables

Management School early warning system

Disaster information

Disaster activities

Disaster groups

Training for disaster groups

Budget Budget allocated for disaster training activities

Budget allocated for disaster preparedness and response

Budget allocated for renovation/repair/rebuilding afterdisaster

Budget allocated for monitoring

Budget allocated for supporting the students who havespecial need

Externalrelationships

Collaboration Meeting with local DoET

Meeting with local people committee

Communication system

Early warning from local government

Collaboration with local government

Relationship of school tocommunity

Location of school in local community

School used as evacuation shelter for local community

Participation of school in disaster activities held bylocal community

Support from local community

School involvement in disaster management plan oflocal community

Mobilizing fund Fund from local government

Fund from parent association

Fund from local community

Fund from other organizations

Shifting budget

Naturalconditions

Severity of natural hazards Floods

Storms (strong winds)

Heat waves

Sea intrusion

Drought (water scarcity)

Frequency of natural hazards Floods

Storms (strong winds)

Heat waves

Sea intrusion

Drought (water scarcity)

Surrounding environment Location of school in high-risk area

Distance to nearest river/stream/sea

Distance to local government office

Distance to police station

Distance to hospital/health center

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3.1.2 Human resources

This dimension examines the main factors that shape human resources (i.e., teachers and

staff, students and parents/guardians) in school.

The Teachers and staff assesses the personal capacity of teachers with regard to pre-

vious disaster, their knowledge, and their role in responding to disasters. It is necessary for

teachers to have adequate knowledge of disasters to be able to conduct proper disaster

education. Providing teachers, students, and parents/guardians the knowledge on DRR is

therefore a good way to minimize loss in human resources as they can protect themselves

and each other from the impacts of disasters.

The Students identifies critical issues which need to be addressed in order to enhance

effectiveness and efficiency in student learning capacity. It is explained in the Priority 3 of

HFA that in order to build a culture of safety and resilience, there is a need to develop

disaster training programs and enhance dissemination of DRR information to stakeholders

(UN/ISDR 2005b). In terms of formal education, it is widely acknowledged that school

plays an important role in raising awareness among students, teachers, and parents (Shaw

and Kobayashi 2001). Also, high level of participation of students in disaster activities can

create greater resilience in school.

The Parents/Guardians addresses the role of parent participation in disaster activities in

school. The importance of linking school education with family and community education

is increasingly being recognized and currently practiced in some countries through

engagement of students in a more proactive partnership (Shiwaku and Shaw 2008).

According to Vandergrift and Greene (1992), the concept of parental involvement with the

student and the school is essential and can produce great rewards for all concerned. 86 %

of the general public schools believe that support from parents is the most important way to

improve student achievement (Rose et al. 1997). With regard to emergency, the interaction

between schools and parents via school-home emergency notification is a prerequisite to

protect students from the impacts of disasters.

3.1.3 Institutional issues

Implementing the first priority of HFA requires a mechanism to strengthen institutional

issues for DRR. It involves integrating DRR into planning, decentralizing responsibilities,

assessing human and financial needs, and allocating necessary resources (UN/ISDR

2005a). Under a school context, institutional resilience is assessed in terms of disaster

planning, management and allocation of budget for disaster activities.

The Planning is the yardstick that measures achievements of school in responding to

disasters. Schools that incorporate DRR into school planning, regulation, and syllabus and

provide enough information related to disasters for students demonstrate a higher level of

resilience than schools without these characteristics. Similarly, a good preparedness and

recovery management plan will help schools both quickly recovery from disaster and

enhance safety for students, teachers, and staff.

The Management focuses on what school provides for students before disaster in terms

of early warning system, disaster activities, easily understandable information on disaster

risks, and protective measures. As people often learn about disaster indirectly from another

experience, disaster activities such as drawing, telling a story about disaster will build a

culture of sharing information and knowledge transfer, which in turn raise students’

awareness on disasters thereby reducing risks. Furthermore, the creation of a disaster group

and their activities in responding to disasters are highlighted.

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The Budget assesses the financial services in school refer to budget allocated specially

for disaster activities such as disaster training, preparedness, response, and recovery pro-

cess. Many studies using indicator-based approaches limit analysis to generic information

by assuming a vulnerable population that is homogeneous, and neglecting the vulnerable

agents with cognitive abilities to adapt to changes in their environment (Acosta-Michlik

and Rounsevell 2009). To avoid this limitation, this parameter also considers students who

have special needs by way of how much support schools give them when disaster occurs.

3.1.4 External relationships

The Collaboration refers to the cooperation between school, community, and local gov-

ernment, which proves necessary for both pre-disaster prevention and mitigation, and

crucial in post-disaster management. Also, facilitating networking and collaboration among

stakeholders is considered as important factor to ensure sustainable in the education sector

(UNESCO 2005). An important aspect of regular meeting between school, local DoET, and

local community is to bring together school managers and policy-makers at the local level to

assess disaster damage, to learn from last disaster, and plan for future disaster.

The Relationship of school to community identifies the role of community in helping

schools to respond to disasters in a timely manner. The vital role of community in DRR

education has been shown in leading students’ actual actions in case of emergency to

reduce disaster risk (Shiwaku et al. 2007) and facilitating the link between risk perception

and risk reduction behavior (Paton and Johnston 2001). It has been re-emphasized in the

Islamabad Declaration in 2008 which strongly encourages community participation in

school’s activities since the community is the first responder to disaster situation and is a

partner which allows transfer of knowledge and practices (Islamabad Declaration on

School Safety 2008). On the other hand, school plays a central role in the community.

Besides providing basic education, school supports the community in times of emergency

by serving as evacuation center, and has potential to act as knowledge resource centers and

engines of DRR work in the community. Shiwaku and Fernandez (2011) also stress the

importance of linking school education with community education, and engaging students

in more proactive partnership with the neighborhood.

The Mobilizing fund examines the external support from community, local government,

and other organizations to schools in case of disasters. For this, political support in funding

for education after a disaster is highlighted and deemed important to help school quickly

recover and resume back to normal operation. There is a growing evidence that proves

children benefit directly and indirectly from even very small cash transfers (Save the

Children 2008). On the other hand, Sivell et al. (2008) suggests that it is not necessary to

spend a large amount of money; instead, shifting budget or changing how existing funds

are distributed can be very effective in building resilience.

3.1.5 Natural conditions

The Severity of natural hazards rates the level of impacts of climatic disasters on schools.

Since Central Vietnam is more vulnerable to climatic disasters including flood, storm, heat

waves, sea intrusion, and drought (water scarcity) than other kinds of disasters such as

earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, this study focuses mainly on the impacts of these

disasters to the education sector.

The Frequency of natural hazards measures the frequency of climatic disasters in the

local area of school. The reason for testing the magnitude of an event is that different scales

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of disaster result in different damages to education sector. A devastating disaster, for

example, will destroy school buildings, increase the number of dead and missing, and

cause huge losses in economy and thus increase time for recovery and put more pressure on

educational continuity. Also, depending on the nature of the hazards, the approach of DRR

education should be changed accordingly. Shaw et al. (2004) argue the importance of

earthquake disaster education compared to other types of disaster. They suggested that the

only way to reduce damages caused by an earthquake is effective preparedness while

hydro-meteorological disasters such as floods and typhoons are much related to early

warning and risk communication (Shaw et al. 2011). Besides, in order to develop a

comprehensive policy toward school safety, the governments should consider all locally

relevant hazards and school location as schools often function as evacuation centers in the

time of disaster.

The Surrounding environment examines the school’s surrounding area in terms of the

school location in high-risk area and the distance from school to public service agencies

such as government office, police station, and health center. It is clear that schools located

in hazardous location are prone to rapid and severe disasters and can easily be isolated

during a disaster.

3.2 Data collection and processing

The third step in this method is the use of the selected indicators in formulating a ques-

tionnaire, which covers five dimensions with each dimension consisting of three param-

eters. Furthermore, each of the parameter has five variables to measure the resilience of

schools. A scale of 1–5 is used to weigh each variable, with the score of 1 being the worst

ranked, poor or not available/non-existent, and a score of 5 being the best. After each

variable is scored, it is graded against the other variables within the same parameter. In this

way, the parameters are weighed according to their importance within the school’s context

between 1 (not important) and 3 (very important). This method has been applied in the

research of Joerin and Shaw (2011).

In order to collect data using the questionnaire, the author went to schools to discuss

and explain the indicators and how to fill out the questionnaire with the principal or

teachers who are responsible for disaster activities in school. An explanatory note of the

quantified questions was prepared in order to minimize the gap of understanding among

responders. The questionnaire was also consulted with staff of the MoET and the pro-

vincial and local DoET before being distributed to schools in order to make it compatible

with the local conditions of the education system in Thua Thien Hue Province. In-depth

interview with key informants such as the educators, the provincial policy-makers, the

DoET officers, and focus group discussion with the principals and school staff was

carried out to collect supplemental data for the research. Because this assessment tool is

applied at the school level, results are influenced by the local characteristics of each

school. To supplement information from the questionnaire, the author uses the school

checklist as well as collected data from the local Red Cross, DoET, Department of

Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE), NGOs, and other organizations in Thua

Thien Hue Province.

To depict resilience levels, both pentagon-shaped graphs and spatial maps were

developed to be able to visually compare resilience levels between regions in Hue City.

This approach is both theoretically consistent and geographically relevant. By using GIS

system to locate schools, it helps in the understanding of the geographical situation of

schools thereby contributing to an accurate level of data collected.

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4 Study in Thua Thien Hue Province

4.1 Overview of Thua Thien Hue Province

Thua Thien Hue Province is one of the most disaster-prone areas in Vietnam. Located in

the North Central province of Viet Nam, Thua Thien Hue Province lies from 16 to 16.80

North latitude, and from 107.8 to 108.20 East longitude. It is situated in a narrow strip of

land with the length of 127 km and the average width of 60 km. The province has a total

area of 5,054 km2 with 126 km of coastline and a population of 1,105,000 people

(TTHPPC 2005). It has all kinds of topography such as forest and mountain, hills and

mounts, coastal plain, lagoon, and sea. Its topography is complicated and strongly parti-

tioned lowering gradually from West to East.

Due to its location in a tropical monsoon area, the average annual temperature is 25 �C

in the plains and in the hills and only 21 �C in the mountains. The lowest average monthly

temperature is in January at 20 �C. The annual precipitation in the province is 3,200 mm

with significant variations. Depending on the year, the annual average precipitation may

reach 2,500–3,500 mm in the plains and 3,000–4,500 mm in the mountains. In some years,

the rainfall may be much higher and reaches to more than 5,000 mm in the mountains

(TTHPPC 2005). The rainy season is from September to December and about 70 % of the

precipitation is accounted for in those months. Rainfall often occurs in short heavy bursts

which causes flooding and erosion (GoV 2004).

Thua Thien Hue Province is divided into 8 districts: A Luoi, Huong Thuy, Huong Tra,

Nam Dong, Phong Dien, Quang Dien, Phu Vang, and Phu Loc. The capital city of Hue is

its own municipality with 150 communes, precincts, and towns.

4.2 Impacts of climatic disaster on the education sector in Thua Thien Hue Province

Its diverse topography makes Thua Thien Hue Province one of the most vulnerable areas in

Vietnam. In recent years, disasters such as floods and storms have devastating impacts in

Thua Thien Hue Province. Almost every area has experienced flooding, which is increasing

in both number and size. Moreover, the number of storms hitting Vietnam is growing each

year, especially in Thua Thien Hue Province. During the 19th and the first half of 20th

century from 1804 to 1945, there were only 38 floods and typhoons in the historical record.

However, between 1975 and 2000, there were 41 disasters consisting of 1 storm, 18 floods,

and 22 storm floods (Do 2000). The flooding event in Central Vietnam in late 1999 has

been recorded as the worst flooding event that the country had experienced in a century.

The flood was caused by a series of storms that brought heavy rain to Central Vietnam in

October and November. There were 926,500 people affected, in which 467 people were

reported dead and missing. It was estimated that the total damage amounted to around 152

million USD (GoV 2005) (Table 2).

According to the annual report of the Provincial People Committee in Thua Thien Hue

Province, the flood in 2010 damaged more than 27,245 houses and about 500 schools

(TTHPPC 2010). Thousands of people have been affected leaving most of them homeless,

with no food or water. 10 people were reported dead or missing, among them 3 children

(CCFSC 2010). As reported by the Hue DoET, about 280,000 students could not go to

school due to the flood. In more disadvantaged areas, the pace of rehabilitating physical

infrastructure to resume teaching and learning activities has been very slow, which neg-

atively affected quality of education.

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4.3 The education system of Thua Thien Hue Province

The education system in Thua Thien Hue Province is adopted from the national education

system of Vietnam (Fig. 1). According to this education system, there are four school

levels namely preschool, primary, under secondary, and upper secondary education. Pre-

school education caters to children until 6 years old. Primary education consists of 5 years

of schooling for students aged 6–10. Students who successfully complete their primary

education undertake 4 years of lower secondary education. After that students who satis-

factorily complete lower secondary education have several options available to them.

These options include continuing schooling at upper secondary school or professional

secondary school, or undertaking vocational training. Some students may also undertake

non-formal education or commence work.

Table 2 Estimated damage of natural disasters in Thua Thien Hue Province

Dead andmissing

Injury Affectedhousehold

Floodedhouses

Affectedschools

Economic loss(million USD)

Flood 1999 467 94 295,100 193,627 1,207 152

Typhoon Xangsane 2006 8(4 children)

102 12,380 48,244 429 182

Flood 2007 (16/10–5/11) 18 31 7,008 60,737 306 47

Flood 2007 (10–12/11) 1 4 83,378 83,396 250

Flood 2010 10(3 children)

27,245 7,200 500

Fig. 1 National education system in Vietnam

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There are different types of institutions offering primary and secondary education:

primary school, lower secondary school, upper secondary school, and multi-level general

school, which can be further divided into (1) combined primary and lower secondary

school, (2) combined lower and upper secondary school, and (3) combined primary, lower,

and upper secondary school. Institutions offering education at the upper secondary level

are under the authority of the provincial DoET, whereas the rest falls under the district-

level DoET (UNESCO 2007).

The school year usually falls on 5 September to 30 May. In recent years, however, many

schools have begun earlier in August so that they can manage the school schedule in case

of storms and floods.

The Thua Thien Hue Province has made education compulsory at the level of primary

school since 2002. According to the DoET of Thua Thien Hue Province in 2008, there are

380 schools, of which 232 are primary schools, 105 lower secondary schools, 31 upper

secondary schools, 4 primary and lower secondary schools, and 8 lower and upper sec-

ondary schools (Table 3). Provincial literature rate is 98.6 % and the total number of

teachers is 4,550.

There are 36 primary schools belonging to 26 wards in Hue City and no school located

in An Tay Ward because it is a newly established ward (Fig. 2). This study initially focuses

on primary students who are considered as effective agents in risk communication espe-

cially to families and communities. Nonetheless, they often have limited knowledge and

skill to protect themselves from disasters.

5 Results and discussion

The results of the analysis are presented in two ways, first by graphs of resilience scores of

all 36 primary schools and second by maps of resilience scores grouped by 26 wards in

Hue City. The graphs point out which factors should be focused on to enhance resilience of

school and of the education system as a whole, while the spatial analysis shows the

different levels of resilience among various regions.

In order to make the variation between resilience score more visible, the score is

categorized into five levels, from 1 to 5 (lowest to highest). The score of each ward is

averaged by score of schools within its area (Table 4).

Table 3 Number of primary,lower secondary, and upper sec-ondary public schools in ThuaThien Hue Province

Source DoET of Thua Thien HueProvince, 2011

Primaryschools

Lower secondaryschools

Upper secondaryschools

Hue City 36 24 10

Huong Thuy 17 11 3

Huong Tra 31 13 3

Phu Vang 37 19 4

Phu Loc 28 17 4

Quang Dien 23 11 2

Phong Dien 27 14 3

Nam Dong 12 4 3

A Luoi 18 8 3

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First, graphs are used to present the results assessing the resilience level of primary

education system of Hue City in different ways through: comparative assessment of 36

primary schools (Fig. 3), analysis of primary education system (Fig. 4), and analysis of

each school (Fig. 6).

As indicated in the Fig. 5, the disaster resilience score of primary schools in Hue City

varies from 2.60 to 4.29 (higher score mean higher resilience and vice versa). Figure 6

shows the overall score of the primary educational resilience in five dimensions. The

physical dimension achieves the highest score at 3.69 while the natural resilience obtains

the lowest resilience at 2.60. In the following, the parameters are examined to explain the

factors that contributed to the results.

The results from spatial analysis of resilience scores illustrate an elevation bias. Thus,

An Cuu (1), Phuoc Vinh (15), Truong An (24) show comparatively high scores of resil-

ience. The notable exception to this pattern is Phu Cat which also shows high levels of

resilience, although it belongs to a low elevation area. Also, Thuy Xuan (22), though

located in high elevation area, has a low resilience score due to its weakness in physical,

institutional, and external relationships. This evidence proves that it is not enough for a

school to be located in a safe area to have strong disaster resilience level. Climate disaster

resilience of school can be achieved in other ways by improving the conditions of human

resource, physical, institutional, and external relationships.

In contrast, most schools that are located in low elevation areas typically demonstrate

moderate to low levels of resilience. This pattern is not only evident across the entire Hue

City, but is also present within each ward individually. For example, there are two schools

in Tay Loc Ward, Tay Loc, and Nguyen Trai, with scores of 3.41 and 2.96, respectively

(Table 4).

Fig. 2 Location of primary schools overlaid on the inundation map of the 1999 flood in Hue City

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5.1 Physical conditions

Among the five dimensions, the physical parameter scored highest, of which scores of

school buildings and hygienic conditions parameter are high while that of the facilities and

equipment parameter are low (Fig. 4). According to the Hue DoET, the school infrastructure

in Hue City has been upgraded and improved recently. About 10 schools were newly built

Table 4 The disaster resiliencescore of 36 primary schools andof 26 wards in Hue City

No Schools CDRIscore

Wards Ward’sscore

1 Ngu Binh 3.71 An Cuu (1) 4.00

2 An Cuu 4.29

3 Ly Thuong Kiet 3.81 Phu Hoi (2) 3.81

4 Phu Cat 3.72 Phu Cat (3) 3.72

5 Phuoc Vinh 3.71 Phuoc Vinh (4) 3.71

6 Truong An 3.56 Truong An (5) 3.56

7 Le Loi 3.72 Phu Nhuan (6) 3.52

8 Vinh Loi 3.52

9 Le Quy Don 3.31

10 Phu Binh 3.47 Phu Binh (7) 3.47

11 Phuong Duc 3.38 Phuong Duc (8) 3.38

12 Xuan Phu 3.34 Xuan Phu (9) 3.34

13 Vinh Ninh 3.32 Vinh Ninh (10) 3.32

14 Vy Da 3.52 Vy Da (11) 3.30

15 Phu Luu 3.09

16 Thuan Hoa 3.28 Thuan Hoa (12) 3.28

17 Thuy Bieu 3.22 Thuy Bieu (13) 3.22

18 Trieu Son Tay 3.46 An Hoa (14) 3.19

19 An Hoa 2.91

20 Tay Loc 3.41 Tay Loc (15) 3.18

21 Nguyen Trai 2.96

22 Phu Hoa 2.83 Phu Hoa (16) 3.17

23 Thanh Long 3.50

24 Phu Hau 3.13 Phu Hau (17) 3.13

25 So 1 Kim Long 2.81 Kim Long (18) 3.05

26 So 2 Kim Long 3.30

27 Ngo Kha 3.04 Phu Hiep (19) 3.04

28 Tran Quoc Toan 3.17 Thuan Thanh (20) 2.99

29 Thuan Thanh 2.80

30 Thuan Loc 2.97 Thuan Loc (21) 2.97

31 So 1 An Dong 3.14 An Dong (22) 2.96

32 So 2 An Dong 2.78

33 Huong So 2.86 Huong So (23) 2.86

34 Huong Long 2.91 Huong Long (24) 2.91

35 Phu Thuan 2.82 Phu Thuan (25) 2.82

36 Thuy Xuan 2.60 Thuy Xuan (26) 2.60

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Fig. 4 Overall disaster resilience score of 36 primary schools

Fig. 3 Disaster resilience score of 36 primary schools

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after historical flood in 1999. In addition, the number of schools that meet the national

standards is increasing, up to more than 30 % in 2010. Currently, about 25 % of schools in

Hue have three stories, 47 % of schools have two 2 stories, and 28 % of schools has one story.

Only 5 % of schools were built without emergency exit door and evacuation shelter.

Every year, checking of school buildings especially of educational facilities and

equipment is compulsory for all schools and is carried out at the beginning of the school

Fig. 5 Spatial analysis of disaster resilience values of primary school system in Hue City, Thua Thien HueProvince. a Overall disaster resilience score. b Physical conditions. c Human resources. d Institutionalissues. e External relationships. f Natural conditions.

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year. In some cases, schools will be requested by the DoET to carry out investigation for

school buildings before the flood season to ensure safety and minimize economic losses.

However, facilities and equipment for primary schools are insufficient in quantity, in the

first place. After a disaster, there are not more than 25 % of damaged facilities and

equipment can be repaired or renovated. This causes education to be interrupted in most

primary schools in Hue City.

Schools with high physical scores are clustered in the high elevation south areas of Hue

City (Fig. 5b). However, there is an exception in the cases of Huong So, An Hoa, and

Fig. 6 The highest resilience score—An Cuu school (a) and lowest resilience score—Thuy Xuan school (b)

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Huong Long schools, which show high physical scores, though located in low elevation

areas. It is because these schools are newly built in 2007.

5.2 Human resources

The average resilience score of human resource is comparatively high among the five

dimensions. This is due to the improved education quality as indicated by the high passing

rate of students and low dropout rate of students. The rate of students that pass primary

education to proceed to lower secondary education reaches 100 % in most schools in the

school year 2009–2010. In addition, the ratio of teacher/students is relative high, around

1:21 and teachers/class is around 1.62. According to the MoET (2011), the percentage of

qualified teachers in Central Vietnam is very high, at 92 %, just lower than the highest rate

of 95 % in the Red river delta. This high human resource score provides a good oppor-

tunity for integrating DRR into the curriculum of primary education. Among three factors

that contribute to human resource resilience, guardians have the least contribution with the

score of 0.68. This is partially a result of a lack of training program that is designed for

guardians and the low involvement of guardians in disaster activities of schools.

The spatial distribution of human resource resilience reflects the difference between

central and peripheral regions (Fig. 5c). The high resilience score within central areas is

primarily a result of high concentration of qualified teachers as well as high-income

households, who have more favorable conditions to actively be involved and make larger

contributions in school activities.

With regard to the number of teachers, staff, and students that meet the basic disaster

training standard, it is found that 55 % of schools have more than 75 % of teachers, staff,

and students who are equipped with proper knowledge and awareness on risks and impacts

of disasters. In 2001, the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRC) has implemented a pro-

gramme called ‘‘Introducing Disaster Preparedness in Primary Schools’’ aimed at reducing

disaster risk for school-going children. Following this programme, 100 % of teachers and

students of grade 4 and 5 in primary schools of all 21 of the most disaster-prone provinces

in Vietnam including Thua Thien Hue Province were trained on disaster preparedness.

However, this programme’s activities have not been replicated due to budget constraints.

Finally, a strong connection between school and family is reflected in the average high

score of school-home notification in emergency situations. Accordingly, most schools rank

this issue as important, nearly 4 in the scale from 1 to 5.

5.3 Institutional issues

In this study, the institutional dimension mainly focuses on the internal management of

each school rather than the general policy framework of sub-DoET. Although all primary

schools in Hue City are under the management of sub-DoET, each school is responsible to

develop their own school planning, regulation, syllabus as well as budget allocation pur-

suant to the directions of the DoET. Therefore, the institutional score displays different

distribution of resilience levels among regions (Fig. 5d). The schools which have high

human resilience scores tend to have high level of institutional score such as An Cuu,

Truong An, Phuoc Vinh, and Phu Hoi. This is because of the high number of trained

teachers as well as high awareness of School Management Board on the importance of

disaster preparedness and recovery plan in minimizing losses from disasters.

The average institutional score is quite high among the five dimensions. This is because

100 % of primary schools have their own Board of Flood and Storm Control led by the

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school principal. This Board is responsible for developing a flood and storm control plan at

the beginning of the school year. In this plan, the roles of all stakeholders are clearly

defined. This plan is then shared among teachers and staff, students, and guardians. Many

schools incorporate disaster components into their general regulation. In most cases, it is

just to make arrangement for educational facilities prior to a disaster. According to the

primary education system of Vietnam, schools that meet all the requirements of teaching

capacity can develop optional education programs pursuant to the regulations of the DoET

aside from the main curriculum. Following this system, most primary schools in Hue City

have disaster components integrated into some subjects such as Vietnamese, Nature, and

Society (for grade 1, 2, and 3), and Geography and Science (for grade 4 and 5) to foster

students’ capacity in disaster preparedness.

The score of the budget parameter is lowest among the three parameters of institutional

issues. For primary schools, the school fee is free and the annual finance budget is provided

by the DoET depending on the size of school and the number of teachers, students, and

classes. The School Management Board will then decide how many percentage of the

budget can be allocated to disaster management. However, because more than 70 % of

budget is allocated for salary of teachers and staff, most primary schools find it very

difficult to spend more on disaster activities.

5.4 External relationships

The spatial distribution of external relationships’ dimension shows a slight eastern bias. A

large percentage of schools within Phuoc Vinh, Vy Da, Phu Binh, Phu Cat, and An Cuu

areas show high levels of external relationship resilience (Fig. 5e). However, the external

relationships’ scores vary largely among different wards because there is no consistent

norm or regulation on the collaboration between schools and local government, commu-

nities, and other organizations. Also, within one ward, there is a mixed pattern of very high

resilience and very low resilience. Take An Cuu ward for example, whose external rela-

tionships’ score is composed of a very high score of An Cuu school (4.50) and very low

score of Ngu Binh school (2.53).

The external relationships’ score result also illustrates a shortage of budget for disaster

activities. It is found that there is a limitation in mobilizing fund from external sources such

as local government, communities, and other organizations. After a disaster, the sub-DoET

tries to find donors to support schools based on the damage level reported from schools.

The sub-DoET itself does not have fund for recovery of schools after a disaster. Only in

cases where school building collapse or equipment and facilities are heavily damaged will

the school receive funding and support from the provincial DoET, Red Cross, and local

government. It is the responsibility of schools themselves to mobilize fund from the Parent

Association, communities, and other organizations. However, mobilizing fund from parent

association, communities, and other organizations is often limited because 80 % of the

people in Hue City belong to the medium income bracket, all suffering from the burden of

daily expenditures. Furthermore, the number of poor households is around 4.8 and 7.5 % of

households have monthly income below 17 USD.

5.4.1 Natural conditions

The natural dimension is recorded lowest among the five dimensions due to the low score

in both severity and frequency of natural hazards. As mentioned earlier, Hue City is

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considered to be among the most vulnerable to disasters in Vietnam, particularly to floods

and storms. With a high river network density of 0.6 km/km2, more than 80 % of primary

schools in Hue City are located within 2 km2 from rivers. Moreover, due to high density of

population in low elevation areas compared to high elevation areas in Hue City, the

number of schools in the low elevation areas is also high. It is notable that the score of

surrounding environment of schools is high since most schools are located within 5 km of

the local people committee office, police station, or health center.

The average natural scores among 26 wards do not diverge significantly (Fig. 5f).

However, the natural scores of schools vary considerably within each ward, for example,

Kim Long 1 and 2 are both located in Kim Long ward but the natural scores are 2.11 and 3.18,

respectively. It is because Kim Long 2 was newly constructed in 2000 in a higher elevation

area or safer area, while Kim Long 1 was built in 1976, before the historical 1999 flood.

In examining each school’s resilience scores, some interesting findings are found. Phuoc

Vinh was ranked in the top five resilience while the natural resilience is very low at 2.20,

rated at 23 out of 36 schools. Whereas Thuy Xuan has the lowest overall disaster resilience

score, but the natural resilience is high at 2.18, rated at 14 out of 36 schools. Given this, it

is important to recognize that schools located in hazardous areas should focus strongly on

physical conditions, human resource, and institutional management to enhance resilience

and make school safer. This evidence, in turn, can be proven true through the analysis of

the lowest and highest resilience scores (Fig. 6), which demonstrate clearly the proportion

of the overall and the sub-component scores of physical, institutional, and external rela-

tionships. For instance, An Cuu School, which ranks highest in terms of overall disaster

resilience (4.29), is also rated highest in physical conditions (4.56), institutional (4.52), and

external relationships (4.50). In contrast, Thuy Xuan has the lowest overall disaster

resilience score (2.60) which is a product of lowest scores in physical (2.72), institutional

(3.01), and external relationships (2.38).

6 Conclusions

This study attempts to provide an effective tool at both policy and school levels by looking

at climate disaster resilience of schools from five dimensions namely physical conditions,

human resources, institutional issues, external relationships, and natural conditions.

Analysis of the results provides an understanding of the parameters to focus on which can

lead to enhancement of climate disaster resilience in schools. It also illustrates the

advantages and challenges in building resilience for the education system. Lastly, this tool

is useful in determining the priorities in the recovery process following disasters as it

identifies which parts of the school are most vulnerable to disaster, the level of damages,

and which resources are important to help school bounce back quickly to its origin state.

The advantageous condition of Hue City as found in this study (i.e., low natural

resilience but high in level of educational disaster resilience) indicates a potential for

integration of DRR into curriculum. Most primary schools in Hue City have changed its

teaching and learning methods resulting to students who are no longer studious and are

passively attentive in class. They can be encouraged to take part in many activities outside

of class, which will provide a good opportunity for DRR integration as extra-curriculum

without overburdening school students. However, in order to effectively integrate DRR

education, it is important to incorporate both theory and practice, hence the program should

develop students’ creativeness and proactiveness, instruct them to use their knowledge for

practical purposes, and initiate the students’ desire and interests in studying.

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Study results found both constraints and opportunities to promoting DRR in the edu-

cation sector. One constraint is financial management, especially budget allocated for

disaster management, which can help disaster planners and decision makers in allocating

money for contingency planning. On the other hand, an opportunity would be to improve

the design of school buildings as well as utilization of educational facilities and equipment

in terms of ensuring school safety during and after an event. In addition, although the

number of trained teachers and students is quite high, many are not equipped with basic

knowledge which hinders them to take action when disaster occurs. Because of the high

turnover of primary education human resource, which is characteristically being replaced

every 5 years, it becomes a challenge to transfer knowledge from one generation to

another. Hence, there is a need for annual disaster training programs to improve practical

skills in disaster response and to sustain human resources for educational system with

regard to DRR and enhancing resilience.

The overall result proves that the current disaster resilience level of the primary edu-

cational system in Hue City is quite high. However, the gap in resilience capacities

between regions and even between schools within a region can be observed clearly. By

identifying the different factors that affect disaster resilience in the primary education in

Hue City, this study can help the Hue DoET design a better plan to minimize this gap and

strengthen educational capacity to respond to climate change. In addition, it will allow the

School Management Board to assess itself in the level of disaster resilience along with

socio-economic and environmental factors. With regard to awareness raising of educa-

tional stakeholders on DRR education, this study can advance educators’ understanding of

the multi-dimensional nature of resilience and its vital role in reducing disaster risk for the

education sector.

Within the context of a changing climate, it is difficult to find an approach that covers

all changeable factors. Therefore, the method used in this study is not an absolute measure,

but is a relative measure particular to school in a local community with specific conditions.

In addition, this approach should be updated according to the change in socio-economic

and environmental conditions overtime.

Although education is a cultural issue and is very much rooted in the local context,

there are still basic principles of education which are universal and can be applied to

different countries with possible customization. Accordingly, the set of resilience indi-

cators in this study although developed along with the specific conditions of the education

system in Central Vietnam can be utilized by modifying and making it compatible with

other regions, in particular with developing countries in Asia. The education system in

Asian countries shares the same characteristics, where education is a national product and

all decisions are made at the national level. Furthermore, DRR education ranks among the

priorities in the Asia–Pacific such that in 2008, the Regional Task Force on Education and

School Safety was established aiming to spearhead DRR education throughout the Asia

and Pacific region. There is a high level of commitment in the Asia–Pacific region to

accelerate the multifaceted process of promoting DRR education in order to build a

culture of safety and resilience. In addition, with the integration of the Regional Network

for Education and School Safety in the Asia–Pacific as part of Global Education Listserv,

it can be expected that more experiences, opinions, and materials on DRR education will

continue to be shared and exchanged both within the region and beyond its boundaries

(UN/ISDR 2009).

The next step for this study is to explore the replication of this method in other vul-

nerable regions. It would allow for the understanding of how overall disaster resilience

scores as measured by this method change according to variations in socio-economic and

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environmental conditions. Furthermore, this analysis can be used to determine the changes

in level of school resilience based on climate change scenarios developed for the local area

where the school is located.

Acknowledgments The author acknowledges funding from a research scholarship of the Japan Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and support from the Kyoto University GlobalCOE Program (GCOE-ARS). The kind assistance and cooperation of Hue Department of Education andTraining (DoET) and school leaders are greatly appreciated.

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