A decision-making framework for school infrastructure improvement programs

School infrastructure affects the quality of education and the performance of children and youth. Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and landslides, threaten critical infrastructure such as school facilities. Additionally, problems related to the functionality of these facilities are common in the region, such as an inadequate number of classrooms, poor lighting, and insufficient ventilation, among others. At a national level, the decision-making process to prioritize schools' interventions becomes even more challenging due to limited resources and lack of information. Furthermore, there is a lack of a systematic approach to address the need of improving existing infrastructure taking into consideration limited resources. Considering this, a novel decision-making framework is proposed that prioritizes school infrastructure investment with limited budgets, using clustering procedures, a multi-criteria utility function, and an optimization component. This framework allows better public policy decisions and benefits students in terms of buildings quality with a multi-criteria perspective, improving both safety and functional conditions. The framework is illustrated with a case study applied to the public-school infrastructure in the Dominican Republic.

Automated summary

School infrastructure has a significant impact on education quality and student performance. Natural disasters pose threats to critical infrastructure, such as school facilities, while functional problems like inadequate classrooms, poor lighting, and insufficient ventilation are common in the region. Making decisions to prioritize school interventions on a national level becomes even more challenging due to limited resources and lack of information. To address this, a novel decision-making framework is proposed, using clustering procedures, a multi-criteria utility function, and an optimization component to prioritize school infrastructure investment with limited budgets. This framework allows for better public policy decisions and improves building quality from a multi-criteria perspective, enhancing safety and functional conditions. The framework is illustrated through a case study in the Dominican Republic's public-school infrastructure.