The role for education in natural disaster management that appeared most frequently in the literature is teaching children risk reduction and management material. Children often spread learning to their families and communities and many believe that ‘educating a child is educating a family’. However, disaster preparedness education can be set up for communities also and not just restricted to the school environment.

The safety of school buildings is also a major consideration in looking at education and natural disaster linkages. Children spend up to 50 percent of their waking hours in school facilities and it is often the case that schools are not constructed or maintained to be disaster resilient. Additionally school buildings are often used by the wider community as a shelter in the event of a disaster.

This Helpdesk Report includes the following sections:

information on India
case studies
disaster risk reduction
infrastructure
child-centred approaches to disaster management
network and organisation links

Findings show that children play an important role both in reducing disaster risks and helping their communities become more resilient.