The Global Program for Safer Schools' reach renders it uniquely able to capture and identify the needs of governments worldwide and to establish mechanisms that promote synergies between efforts by development partners, the private sector, and academia to build school safety solutions at scale.

The research focuses on identifying case studies and map the experience of countries and construction technologies used in remote areas to understand how school facilities are built at the local level and the challenges faced in doing so as well as the community engagement in the construction process. I carried out a comparative analysis of architectural and constructive aspects. Likewise, Using diagrams I explain the flow process of how projects are designed, implemented and financed.

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Case studies in Latin American, African and Asian regions

Comparative analysis

Latin America

The Sasle Community School was constructed by Bridges to Community Canada. The school facility was built by the community and volunteers which helped to reduce construction costs and allowed the villagers to be part of the project and create a sense of community. Bridges to Community Canada organized a crowdfunding source for the project where they collected private funds and donations.

The Plan Selva project was developed by the Ministry of Education (MINEDU) to built schools in scattered communities throughout the Peruvian Amazon region. Each school is a system of modules that allows a systematic assembly in different sites across the amazon area.

The “Repositioning of Rural Schools in Araucanía Region” Architecture Contest involved the municipalities of Los Sauces, Gorbea, Melipeuco, Nueva Imperial and Teodoro Schmidt of Chile. The selected project responds best to the requirements of location, formal expression, operation, innovation, sustainability, comfort, materiality, and costs, taking into account the territorial singularities, and their rural character. The funding for these schools comes directly from the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to the executors of the projects.

Africa

The Community Primary School for Girls is a combined effort between The Swawou Foundation and Orkidstudio, responsible for the design. The school’s construction involved the work of members from the Swawou Layout Community. The Swawou Foundation led the project, responsible for fundraising and implementation of the new school.

Gando Primary School was a project led by Bricks for Gando, a non-governmental organization, and designed by his creator and architect Francis Keré. The school’s construction involved the work of members of the community, allowing them to learn a set of techniques and materials for future projects. Bricks for Gando received funds from the state through a government organization, LOCOMAT.

Gasanze Pre-Primary School was made possible thanks to UNICEF, who gather the funds needed via state funding (Ministry of Education) and private donations (Fundraising). The school’s design was made by Active Social Architecture. The school’s construction involved the work of members of the community.

‍Asia

The Earthquake-resistant school project is an effort between NGOs Asia Friendship Network and Kids of Kathmandu, which gathered the funds required for its construction. With the help of SHoP Architects, the school was designed and built. The construction work involved the community, which let them with a kit of techniques.

NGO Building Trust International organized the architectural contest to select the best design for the school. After its selection, funding was raised through donations. The school was built with the help of the local firm Ironwood and community members. They learned construction techniques and innovative materials for their future construction knowledge.

Four associations were gathered by Non-profit organization Design 4 Design (D4D) to develop a post-disaster recovery program. The Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage, The Engineering Institute of Thailand under H.M. the King’s Patronage and other related institutes and media also provided administrative and technical assistance. The project was subsidized by Venerable V. Vajiramedhi. Designed by local architect, Jun Sekino, and built with members of the village involved in the construction process.

Findings

Mapping actors and stakeholders are relevant to dimension the implementation efforts of building school projects lead by a non-governmental organization or the State.

The projects implemented by the Peruvian and Chilean governments have a national outreach due to prior investigation where the whole educational infrastructure is analyzed to establish prioritization criteria according to various factors. In contrast, NGO’s systems tend to be more punctual and small scale interventions. In the African region, the schools are the result of NGOs' efforts and bottom-up approaches. The projects worked together with the community in the design and construction process. And, the three examples proved the success of this model. Asian projects tend to be more systematic and industrialized. Moving Schools demonstrates how the industrialization of materials can be more convenient than building with traditional materials, local, or even more related to the culture, as they are more functional and practical. Besides, the system proposed in Nepal school is innovative to generate off-grid resources such as electricity and water for maintenance.

The actors involved and their relationship in the construction process often makes the project feasible. NGO’s closeness to the project and communities comes as an advantage to establish relationships with the community leaders. They become actors to be able to build their schools. Communities can intervene in the building process from their tradition and culture. The inclusion of volunteers in the construction of schools is an added value as it helps to reduce costs and construction time.