8. School Safety Management: International Framework and Japanese Practice

This chapter articulated school risk and crisis management vis-à-vis school safety against natural disasters from both international and Japanese perspectives. Two important approaches to school disaster risk and crisis management were identified. The first is a comprehensive approach to ensure school safety in a natural disaster, while the second is a DRR approach to minimize the impact of a natural disaster at school. These approaches are integrated into the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and became one of the global targets for DRR. More concretely, minimizing deaths and injuries of children at school is the most important goal of school disaster risk and crisis management. To achieve this goal, comprehensive efforts are urgently requested at schools to secure the safety of the school learning facilities, school disaster management, and disaster risk reduction education under educational policies, and plans aligned to national, sub-national, and local disaster management plans. The chapter also provides suggestions for future collaboration to enhance school resilience through risk management at school to protect children under school supervision, and the need to exchange experiences and regional collaboration in Asia.