GADRRRES conducted the first Comprehensive School Safety Policy Survey in 2017 using an online survey tool and regional facilitators. Sixty-eight countries participated and half of these countries had their survey results validated by the relevant government authority.

The CSS Policy Survey allowed us to do three important things:

1. Have a quick overview of the strengths and gaps in CSS policy
2. Track progress over time
3. Compare results across countries, esp. in a particular region

The 2017 survey found that:

• Most countries had policies to ensure safer school construction, but few countries were upgrading weak, existing schools
• About half the countries required schools to carry out emergency drills, but less than a quarter included disaster management in teacher training
• A quarter of the countries included climate change and disaster risk reduction in their national school curriculum, but only a few countries trained teachers to deliver this curriculum.
• The Latin America and Caribbean region led the way in policies aimed at ensuring safe school site selection, school construction monitoring, and mandating fire drills.
• The Asia Pacific region led the way in integrating risk reduction and resilience education into their national curriculum and raising public awareness
• African countries led the way in referencing disaster risk reduction or disaster response in their education sector policies

The following publications report this data:

• Comprehensive school safety policy: Trends in the Asia-Pacific region (2017) (Available in English and Mandarin)
• Comprehensive school safety policy: A global baseline survey (2019)
• Comprehensive school safety policy: Trends in the Pacific region (2020)