Abstract

Due to fast changes in the natural environment, large-scale disasters have seen exponential growth. We will face more natural disasters than ever, among which one or two could be major catastrophes in the worst-case scenario. With regard to the international trend of disaster management, reducing disaster risks, building disaster resilience, and promotion of disaster risk reduction and education (DRRE) in schools have become the international mainstream.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) has promoted DRRE for decades. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has subsidized the establishment of 4,129 Disaster Resilient Schools, cultivated many excellent talents and developed many teaching materials since 2003. Following on these previous efforts, the MOE implemented the Program on Building Disaster Resilient Schools and Technology Application (2019-2022) in 2019. With the aim of "building stronger disaster resilient schools," the MOE hopes to develop “more comprehension of judgment rules instead of training of giving standard answers” and “make Disaster Preparedness a part of our life.” By incorporating resources like disaster prevention technologies and innovative research and development, the MOE hopes to achieve the goals of the DRRE policy to “construct safe learning facilities, implement disaster management at schools, reduce relevant risks, and promote disaster resilience education.” In order to enhance the overall effectiveness of the program, Disaster Resilient School operation indicators and mechanisms have been designed to strengthen school disaster management capacity: establish 28 disaster resilient schools for special education schools to deepen DRRE in special education schools; conduct interviews and capacity assessments of DRRE guidance groups in various counties and cities and review the results of disaster resilient schools construction; promote 504 disaster resilient schools, plan the route of study tours, conduct various studies, and improve effective operation during 2022; conduct at least100 sessions of teacher training courses, review teaching materials and plans, release DRRE electronic publications, produce volcano DRRE documents, carry out work related to teaching plans and aids, and optimize DRRE resources; implement the work related to the National Disaster Prevention Day, conduct the 2020 disaster resilient schools construction excellent schools conference, and promote the cross-unit cooperation of the disaster resilient schools. All of the above measures will strengthen the integration of school resources and implement the promotion of disaster resilient schools.

Keywords：disaster risk reduction and education (DRRE), disaster resilient school, disaster technology, capacity building.