Disaster Risk Assessment Among Iranian Exceptional Schools

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Educational Safety
• Disaster Risk Management

Background:

• Ensuring a safe educational environment is a fundamental right for all children, including those with disabilities.
• Disasters pose significant threats to educational safety, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations like children with disabilities.
• Exceptional schools require specific safety and disaster risk assessments due to the unique needs of their students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the safety and conduct a disaster risk assessment of exceptional schools in Tehran, Iran.
• To identify specific areas of vulnerability within these educational facilities.
• To inform strategies for enhancing the safety of students with disabilities during emergencies.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted in 55 exceptional schools in Tehran in 2018.
• A census sampling method was employed to select participating schools across all grade levels.
• A safety checklist developed by the Tehran Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization (TDMMO) and the Ministry of Education was utilized for evaluation, with data analyzed using Excel and descriptive statistics.

Main Results:

• Significant safety concerns were identified in various school facilities, including elevators (7.69% safety), yards (9.52%), laboratories (16.67%), libraries (24.24%), and fire extinguishing systems (28.99%).
• Storage rooms and kitchens also presented lower safety margins (33.33%).
• The overall safety assessment for exceptional schools in Tehran indicated a medium-risk level, with an average safety score of 70.13%.

Conclusions:

• Educational settings for exceptional children require urgent reconsideration regarding safety and risk identification.
• There is a critical need to establish standardized safety evaluation protocols specifically for exceptional schools.
• Implementing immediate improvements to identified infrastructure weaknesses is essential to mitigate disaster risks for students with disabilities.