Gender-responsive assessment on structural vulnerabilities of 4 secondary schools in Kedar, Kachakata, and Ballabherkhash Unions of Nageshwari, Kurigram, Bangladesh

This report describes the gender-responsive structural vulnerabilities assessment of 3 schools and 1 madrasah of Nageshawri Upazila of Kurigram district foreseeing to assess the structural vulnerabilities of 4 targeted schools of the GRSCSI project in mentioned locations of Kurigram and produce plausible recommendations in view to take inclusive mitigation measures and protect the school students and education workers from all kind of disaster events. A safe and conducive school environment is an essential component for school students. A good environment in a school brings a happy place for all the students to receive their lessons and also for teachers to deliver the lecture which is a crucial component to effective teaching and learning. In order to keep the school functional in all aspects, school facilities need to be protected from all kinds of susceptible disaster events like floods, earthquakes, and other multi-hazards.

During the assessment period, the school building foundation's depth and size were checked through earth cutting in a suitable place and the rooftop extended column was broken in order to understand the number and diameter of used reinforcement and check the stirrup and its hook. Also carefully observed the size of the beam, any cracks that happened in the building, and common non-structural parts of the school. It is highly recommended to construct a ramp with handles where there is needed to make the school inclusive, the need to come up with the required number of WASH facilities according to the national standard, and in-depth structural analysis is required for school building vertical extension. Only one school has found a ramp but there is needed to install a handrail to make it more functional the other three schools are recommended to install a ramp with a handrail as the school building is used as a cyclone shelter during cyclone time in the year.