Adequate School Infrastructure

School infrastructure plays a significant role among the factors influencing student learning, physical and emotional well-being and safety. The indicator assesses the status of the educational infrastructure and physical learning environment in supported schools.

*This is a Global Results Framework Indicator. 

Result Statement: Increased number of schools meeting Infrastructure Quality Standards

Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

1) Develop Infrastructure Quality Standards for schools which are relevant to the context of your intervention and reflect the physical, psychosocial, protection and other needs of students, teachers and communities. As much as possible, use existing national or local standards, if they are available and relevant. You may use the following options when formulating your standards:

The school has:

  > an adequate number of classrooms with sufficient blackboards/ furniture /space per class

  > an adequate number of gender-separated sanitation facilities/ access to adequate clean drinking water

  > recreational facilities

  > protective boundaries

2) Create a monitoring checklist that covers all standards. Decide whether the assessed schools need to meet all or only some of the standards (e.g. at least 80%) to be considered as "meeting Infrastructure Quality Standards". 

3) Collect data about the school facilities either (1) directly conducting school field visits or (2) collect the monitoring checklists filled out by school directors or (3) use records of education authorities (available in some contexts only). If you use option 2 or 3, conduct field visits to randomly selected schools to crosscheck the reliability of the data.

4) Calculate the number and % of schools with buildings that meet the Infrastructure Quality Standards for schools.

1) The adequacy of school infrastructure should be assessed against national standards (if they exist). You should check with local education authorities (Ministry of Education).

2) In the emergency context, the International Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards should be used and referred to, especially Access and Learning Environment Standard 3: Facilities and Services (p.68-72).

3) If you are planning construction or refurbishing of an existing school use INEE Guidance Notes on Safer School Construction.