15 August 2016, Nepal

 In 2015, a massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck central Nepal causing widespread destruction. It was reported that more than 8,000 schools were damaged or destroyed and nearly 9,000 people were killed. A year after the disaster occurred, are schools in Nepal now safe for the next big quake?

 Following the April and May 2015 earthquakes, the Government of Nepal and several development partners including the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have developed a comprehensive Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) document. Within the education sector, the PDNA identifies the needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction of affected infrastructure such as school buildings and facilities.

 AIT Solutions, under the ADB’s Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project in Nepal, assisted in developing two official documents: Structural Design Criteria for Type Design of School Buildings, official guidelines to the Department of Education (DOE), for structural aspects of planning and design of new schools consistent with the Design Guidelines for Type Design of School Buildings and Guidelines for Developing Type Designs for School Buildings in Nepal, intended to be the official guidelines to the Department of Education (DOE), for the planning and design of new schools.

 Two workshops were also organized from 11-15 August 2016 at the National Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur to equip engineers and sub-engineers with the latest trends in design and construction of resilient school buildings.

 The first workshop, Seismic Design of Disaster Resilient School Building for Engineers was attended by 15 Engineers from Ministry of Urban Development and 20 Engineers from Ministry of Education. The workshop focused on the structural engineering aspect and covered areas such as seismic design criteria, modelling, design of masonry, steel and concrete structures.

 20 Sub-engineers from Ministry of Urban Development and 30 Sub-engineers from Ministry of Education attended the second workshop on Construction of Disaster Resilient School Building. It focused on the construction aspect and covered areas such as construction of earthquake resistance masonry, steel and concrete structures, construction practices, construction defects, construction safety.