About 20% of public schools in areas at risk of flooding or landslides have not come up with evacuation plans, an education ministry survey showed Tuesday.
The first such survey by the ministry, conducted through Oct. 1 last year, covered publicly run kindergartens and elementary, junior high and high schools located in areas requiring vigilance against flooding or landslides in times of heavy rain.
It found that 1,111, or 15%, of 7,476 schools in areas at risk of flooding and 879, or 21%, of 4,192 schools in areas with landslide risks have not mapped out evacuation plans specifying routes and methods.
The survey also showed that 2,101, or 28%, of the schools in flooding warning areas and 1,360, or 32%, of the schools in landslide warning areas have not conducted evacuation drills.
Revisions to the flooding prevention law and the landslide prevention law in 2017 made the compilation of evacuation plans and implementation of related drills mandatory for schools that have been designated as facilities used by those in need of special protection from disasters.
The ministry will issue notifications to schools that have not yet drawn up evacuation plans or conducted drills to see to it that they take the measures.
The survey also found that measures against inundation based on estimated floodwater levels are in place at only 1,102, or 15%, of the schools in flood-risk areas.
The ministry will help promote such measures through a related subsidy program.
The survey was conducted after schools in warning areas were damaged by major disasters in recent years.
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