Comprehensive School Safety and SDG 4
Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) is the educational goal that aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
The inclusion of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework supports strengthening the action plans for SDG 4 targets. Quality and inclusive education require the need to build safe learning environments.
Specifically, SDG 4.A addresses the need for adequate physical infrastructure and safe, inclusive environments that nurture learning for all – “build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all”. It underscores some of the most basic services and facilities that need to be in place for safe, child-friendly, and inclusive schools. One of the indicators focuses on the proportion of schools with access to; electricity, internet, computers, inclusive infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities, basic drinking water, clean sanitation facilities, and basic hand washing facilities. Many of which are damaged or inaccessible during hazards and disasters.
Education is one of the most powerful vehicles for sustainable development. Lack of disaster preparedness and safe schools will result in the continuing trend of the increasing number of children out of school.
Adopting and implementing the Comprehensive School Safety Framework will not only protect and save children’s lives, but will also ensure their educational continuity in the face of a disaster.
The inclusion of the Comprehensive Safe School Framework will provide practical ways to build safe and inclusive learning environments, improve access to quality education and ensure life-long learning.
The efforts to localize, sustain and institutionalize comprehensive school safety to achieve resilient schools require collective action and support from various entities in accordance to their capacity, knowledge and skills and will have to be a mutually important agenda and the responsibility of the school community, the local community where the schools are, concerned people’s and civil society organizations, the Department of Education and most importantly, the Local Government Unit.
One good example of this holistic approach is the partnership of E-Net Philippines and the Local Government of Ormoc City in the Support for Localization, Sustainability and Scaling-Up of Comprehensive School Safety (CSS) in Ormoc City Schools. This project is piloted in Ormoc City Senior High School and New Ormoc City National High School and is working towards scaling-up in other Ormoc City schools.
