Disaster risk reduction education in Indonesia: Challenges and recommendations for scaling up

This article investigates the implementation of disaster risk reduction education for children in Indonesia. In the last decade, education programs related to this subject have been promoted as capable of reducing disaster losses and increasing resilience, based on several studies that have identified positive outcomes. However, most of these studies were undertaken in developed countries. The article uses a case study in Jakarta, a rapidly growing megacity that is highly prone to disasters and natural hazards, especially floods and fires, to explore the scaling-up and sustainability of disaster risk reduction in Indonesian schools. Based on previous studies, a new approach was developed for evaluating the implementation of education programs related to these subjects. This study captured the perspectives of children, school personnel, and non-governmental organisations on the challenges of scaling-up the implementation of disaster risk reduction education in schools. The study revealed seven key issues and suggests several policy recommendations to move forward. These key issues may also be apparent in many other developing and developed countries, and the suggested recommendations may well be applicable beyond Indonesia.