Standard 3: Facilities and Services

Education facilities promote the safety and well-being of learners, teachers and other education personnel and are linked to health, nutrition, psychosocial and protection services.

Key Actions

Learning sites and structures are safe and accessible for all learners, teachers and other education personnel

See Guidance Notes:

Temporary and permanent learning environments are repaired, retro-fitted or replaced as needed with disaster-resilient design and construction

See Guidance Notes:

Learning spaces are marked by visible protective boundaries and clear signs.

Physical structures used for learning sites are appropriate for the situation and include adequate space for classes, administration, recreation and sanitation facilities

See Guidance Notes:

Class space and seating arrangements meet agreed ratios of space per learner and teacher in order to promote participatory methodologies and learner-centred approaches

See Guidance Notes:

Community members, including young people, participate in the construction and maintenance of the learning environment

See Guidance Notes:

Adequate quantities of safe water and appropriate sanitation facilities are provided for personal hygiene and protection, taking into account sex, age and people with disabilities

See Guidance Notes:

Skills-based health and hygiene education is promoted in the learning environment

See Guidance Notes:

School-based health and nutrition services are available to address hunger and other barriers to effective learning and development

See Guidance Notes:

Schools and learning spaces are linked to child protection, health, nutrition, social and psychosocial services

See Guidance Notes:

Guidance Notes
1
Location

Education facilities should be built, reconstructed or relocated to sites that promote equity and the physical safety of learners, teachers and other education personnel. It is important to consider whether the sites of education facilities before the emergency should be reused. Rebuilding physical structures in their previous locations may continue discrimination against certain groups within the community or may put learners at risk of natural disaster. Careful conflict and disaster risk assessments are essential. These should include consultations with representatives from national authorities and a wide range of community members, especially vulnerable groups. They can provide valuable information on where educational facilities can be built. Collaboration with other sectors (such as camp coordination and management, shelter and health) is essential to ensure that schools and education facilities are close to learners’ homes and to other services..

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2
Structure, design and construction

It is important to consider the following elements in the design and construction of temporary and permanent education facilities.

  • Safe site selection: the structural safety of damaged school buildings needs to be assessed by qualified professionals, and buildings prioritised for re-occupancy, repair, retro-fitting or replacement, based on need and cost.
  • Inclusive and disaster-resistant design and construction: international planning and building code standards for schools (or local codes when they are of a higher standard) should be applied to temporary and permanent construction. School facilities should be designed, constructed and maintained to be resilient in the face of known hazards and threats such as re, storms, earthquakes and landslides. Reconstruction efforts should ensure that going to school will not expose learners, teachers or other education personnel to avoidable risks; design and construction should ensure adequate lighting, cross-ventilation and heating (as appropriate) to promote a quality teaching and learning environment.
  • Whether the structure can be maintained by local authorities and the local community at an affordable cost: locally procured materials and labour should be used to build the structure wherever feasible. Steps should be taken to ensure that structures are cost-effective and that physical features (e.g. roofs, floors) are durable.
  • Available budget, possible current and long-term uses, and involvement of communities and education planners and managers.

Structures may be temporary, semi-permanent, permanent, extensions or mobile. The involvement of members of groups differently affected by the emergency in joint activities, such as construction and maintenance of schools, may support conflict mitigation.

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3
People with disabilities

The needs of people with physical and visual disabilities should be carefully considered in the design of education facilities. Entrances and exits need to accommodate people in wheelchairs or using other assisted-mobility devices. Classroom space and furniture, and water and sanitation facilities, should meet the needs of people with disabilities. When identifying sites and reconstructing education facilities, cooperation at local and national levels is recommended with organisations representing people with various types of disability, parents of children with disabilities and youth with disabilities.

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4
Design and maintenance of learning spaces

Education facilities should be designed giving careful thought to who uses the learning space, and how. Spaces need to be appropriate to the sex, age, physical ability and cultural considerations of all users. A locally realistic standard should be set for maximum class size. Enough space should be allowed, if possible, for additional classrooms if enrolment increases, to enable a progressive reduction in the use of multiple shifts. Entrances and exits need to allow students, teachers and other education personnel to exit safely in an emergency.

The building structure, including sanitation facilities, and furniture, including desks, chairs, blackboards, should be maintained regularly. Members of the community and the community education committee can contribute to the maintenance of the learning spaces with labour, time or materials.

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5
Sanitation facilities

Sanitation facilities should be available within or close to the learning environment. Collaboration with the water and sanitation sector is important in achieving this. Sanitation includes:

  • solid waste disposal facilities, such as containers and waste pits;
  • drainage facilities, such as soak pits and drainage channels;
  • adequate water for personal hygiene and to clean toilets.

Sanitation facilities should be accessible for persons with disabilities and should maintain privacy, dignity and safety. Toilet doors should lock from the inside. To prevent sexual harassment and abuse, separate toilets for boys/men and girls/women should be located in safe, convenient and easily accessible places. Sphere guidelines for school toilets call for one toilet for every 30 girls and one toilet for every 60 boys. If provision of separate toilets is not initially possible, arrangements can be made to avoid girls and boys using the toilets at the same time. If toilets are not located within the learning site, nearby facilities can be identified and children’s use of them monitored.

Sanitary materials and culturally appropriate clothing, if necessary, should be provided to female learners so that they can participate fully in learning.

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6
Safe water and hygiene promotion

Learning environments should have a safe water source and should provide soap. Hygiene practices, such as hand and face washing, should be incorporated as daily activities. Sphere guidelines for minimum water quantities in schools call for 3 litres of water per student per day for drinking and hand washing.

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7
School-based health and nutrition services

School-based health and nutrition programmes link education with resources in the health, nutrition and sanitation sectors. They address barriers to learning and promote healthy development. Programmes may include:

  • school feeding programmes to address hunger needs;
  • de-worming to treat parasitic infections;
  • communicable disease prevention programmes (such as for measles, diarrhoea, HIV and AIDS);
  • provision of micronutrient supplements (such as vitamin A, iron and iodine).

Programmes should follow recognised guidelines such as the World Food Programme’s guidelines on school feeding. Coordination with the health and nutrition sectors is important.

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8
Access to local services and referrals

Teachers and other education personnel can use referrals to local services to support and promote learners’ physical, psychosocial and emotional well-being. They should be trained to recognise signs of physical or psychosocial distress and other protection concerns, such as children who have been separated from their families. They should share information on threats to learners’ well-being with relevant partners from other service sectors.

To ensure that the referral system operates effectively, formal links with outside services should be established. Services may include counselling, psychosocial and legal services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and social services for suspected cases of abuse or neglect. Children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups may need help with family tracing and reunification.

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Supporting Resources

Supporting Resources
1 January 2012 Manual/Handbook/Guide United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Compendium of WASH in Schools Facilities in Emergencies

The purpose of this compendium is to collate knowledge on emergency interventions that deliver WASH-related health benefits while minimizing disruption to education opportunities. The compendium describes preparedness activities and responses to past emergencies. The compendium also describes the planning process for a potential intervention and different WASH in emergency scenarios. 

1 January 2011 Manual/Handbook/Guide
Global Education Cluster, Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
Global Protection Cluster

Guidelines for Child Friendly Spaces in Emergencies

The purpose of these principles is to give practical guidance to the field teams that establish CFSs in different types of emergencies and contexts.

31 July 2009 Manual/Handbook/Guide
Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery

INEE Guidance Notes on Safer School Construction

These guidance notes have been developed for policymakers and planners of local, regional and national government bodies and all other organizations interested or engaged in enhancing the safety of school populations and the resiliency of the buildings they occupy.

1 January 2016 Toolkit International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Safe Healing and Learning Spaces Toolkit

The SHLS Toolkit provides frontline humanitarian staff with practical implementation guidance, adaptable sample tools, comprehensive training materials, and scripted instructional content. Resources are provided for a 9-month program, and applicable in both rural and urban areas, based on locally-defined needs and priorities. 

Indicators

Untitled Spreadsheet
INEE Domain INEE Standard Indicator/Program Requirements Clarification Numerator Denominator Target Disaggregation Source of Indicator Source of Data Available Tool Crisis Phase
Access and Learning Environment Equal Access (A&L Std 1)

All individuals have access to quality and relevant education opportunities.
2.1 Net attendance rate Number of crisis-affected school-age children who attended school during the previous academic week Number of crisis-affected school-age children 100% Level of education
Gender
Ethnicity
Mother tongue
Wealth quintile
Disability
Displacement status
As relevant
OCHA Indicator Registry Government or cluster reporting, school or household-based surveys, M&E mechanisms, school records DHS All stages
2.2 Percentage of students who meet minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, and/or demonstrate adequate progress in academic, vocational, and/or social and emotional learning (SEL) skills What defines adequate progress in learning outcomes depends on many factors, such as emergency context, age group, and program aims. This indicator is one that will need to be contextualized according to identified factors. Number of students who meet minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, and/or demonstrate adequate progress in academic, vocational, and/or SEL skills Number of students 100% Level of education
Gender
Ethnicity
Mother tongue
Wealth quintile
Disability
Displacement status
As relevant
New Learning outcome measures INEE Measurement Library Once program implementation has begun
Protection & Well-being (A&L Std 2)

Learning environments are secure and safe, and promote the protection and the psychosocial well-being of learners, teachers, and other education personnel.
2.3 Percentage of targeted learning spaces featuring psychosocial support (PSS) activities for children that fulfil at least three out of the four following attributes: a) structured, b) goal-oriented, c) evidence-informed, d) targeted and tailored to different sub-groups of vulnerable children This indicator reflects the provision of holistic PSS services to children in need, as opposed to "shallow," unstructured activities that are unlikely to yield outcome-level results. The PSS intervention will have to feature at least three of the four following attributes: a) structured, b) goal-oriented, c) evidence-informed, d) targeted and tailored to different sub-groups of vulnerable children. Number of targeted learning spaces featuring PSS activities for children that fulfil at least three of the four following attributes: a) structured, b) goal-oriented, c) evidence-informed, d) targeted and tailored to different sub-groups of vulnerable children Number of targeted learning spaces 100% Could be disaggregated by a), b), c), and d)

Formal vs non-formal
New Program documentation, school policies, school observations. Figures provided can be based on surveys or estimates. Reference should be made to in-country standards for provision of PSS services, or, if the latter do not exist, refer to INEE standards and guidelines. Tool required All stages
2.4 Percentage of targeted learning spaces with disaster risk reduction (DRR) processes/measures in place Existence of up-to-date school-level contingency/emergency preparedness plans, or conduction of simulation drills for example Number of targeted learning spaces adopting and operationalizing DRR policies/practices Number of targeted learning spaces 100% Formal vs non-formal OCHA Indicator Registry Program documentation, school policies, school observations Tool required All stages
2.5 Percentage of children, teachers, and other staff who report feeling safe in school and on the way to/from school Number of children, teachers, and other staff who report feeling safe in school and on the way to/from school Number of children, teachers, and other staff in school 100% Children/teachers/other staff
Level of education
Gender
Ethnicity
Mother tongue
Wealth quintile
Disability
Displacement status
As relevant
New Survey of students and staff Tool required All stages
Facilities & Service (A&L Std 3)

Education facilities promote the safety and well-being of learners, teachers, and other education personnel and are linked to health, nutrition, psychosocial, and protection services.
2.6 Percentage of targeted learning spaces that meet EiE access, quality, and safety standards for infrastructure Number of targeted learning spaces meeting EiE access, quality, and safety standards for infrastructure Number of targeted learning spaces 100% Formal vs non-formal OCHA Indicator Registry Learning space inventories, program documentation, cluster reporting, EMIS Guidance notes on safer school construction All stages
2.7 Percentage of learning spaces with gender- and disability-sensitive WASH facilities Number of learning spaces with gender- and disability-sensitive WASH facilities Number of targeted learning spaces 100% Formal vs non-formal OCHA Indicator Registry Learning space inventories, program documentation, cluster reporting, EMIS UNRWA Education in Emergencies Indicator Bank, page 19 All stages
2.8 Percentage of targeted learning spaces that offer school meals Number of targeted learning spaces that offer school meals Number of targeted learning spaces 100% Formal vs non-formal New Program documentation No tool required; INEE MS and indicator definitions sufficient All stages
2.9 Percentage of targeted learning spaces that offer referrals to specialized health, psychosocial, and protection services Number of targeted learning spaces that offer referrals to specialized health, psychosocial, and protection services Number of targeted learning spaces 100% Formal vs non-formal New Program documentation No tool required; INEE MS and indicator definitions sufficient All stages