Building Earthquake Resistant Schools Bandaged with Ferrocement Layers

One- and / or two-story school buildings in Indonesia can be considered as non-engineered constructions and also, like other non-engineered constructions are often damaged and destroyed when shaken by earthquakes. They are even more vulnerable due to larger distance between walls in both directions if compared to residential buildings.

Failure of schools may result in cutting short the lives of the future intelligentsia in a country and cause terrible upsetting to the parents of the children who lose their lives. Needless to say that collapsed and or damaged school buildings will disrupt the education activities. Besides the function of education, school buildings in rural and semi urban areas of developing countries are used as multi-purpose community buildings, especially for providing shelter to population in times of distress. This happens because the school building may be the only public building in a village or group of villages. This calls for greater safety as well as durability in the construction of educational buildings.