Enhancing School Safety Activities: The Contribution of Geological Engineers~An Example from Tochigi Prefecture’s Elementary Schools~

Abstract

 Japan is constantly exposed to the risk of diverse natural disasters such as earthquakes and torrential rains. This study examined the role geological engineers could play in enhancing the quality of disaster prevention education at elementary schools in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. This was done through interviews with faculty and observations of evacuation drills, handover drills, and other activities. The target schools implement training and learning activities tailored to the region's topographical characteristics, cultivate students’ ability to protect their own lives. These efforts have been confirmed to enhance students’ disaster awareness and safety action capabilities. However, challenges exist in learning knowledge about disaster prevention and disasters, including teacher workload, difficulty accessing specialized information, and the complexity of the content, making sufficient implementation difficult in some aspects. Addressing these challenges, geological engineers providing specialized expertise to educational settings is considered highly likely to contribute significantly to improving the quality of disaster prevention education.