Informing disaster-risk management policies for education infrastructure using scenario-based recovery analyses

Recent natural-hazard events have shown that post-disaster education continuity is still a significant global challenge. Here, we propose a methodology to support various stakeholders in quantifying the impact of disaster management policies on education continuity in low- and lower-middle-income countries. We then apply the proposed methodology to a hypothetical earthquake scenario impacting a testbed education infrastructure in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. This case study accounts for local practice influencing recovery through interviews with stakeholders involved in post-disaster management in the region. The analyses reveal that early response financing mechanisms can help speed up education recovery by a factor of three. Also, community-managed school reconstruction projects are likely to be completed up to three to five times faster than agency-managed projects. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the framework can be used to prioritize school reconstruction projects to ensure inclusive education continuity at the community level.