The pilot implementation of the project, carried out in partnership with the Ministry of National Education (MEB) General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate, UNESCO, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and financed by the Government of Japan, was successfully completed in 2025 at İzmir Bayındır İsmet İnönü Secondary School.

Safe Schools Without Interrupting Education

Unlike traditional strengthening methods, the External Master Frame method can be implemented without the need to evacuate school buildings, maximizing seismic resistance while ensuring the uninterrupted continuation of education. Applied to the exterior of the building, these seismic frames offer a highly cost-effective, rapidly implementable, and safe solution model. Türkiye’s experience at the pilot school in İzmir was also examined on site by international delegations from other earthquake-prone countries, such as Morocco, and received high praise.

The External Frame Method, implemented for the first time in Türkiye at İzmir Bayındır İsmet İnönü Secondary School, was examined on site by an international delegation. Representatives of the JICA Morocco Office, as well as representatives from various public institutions and academic organizations in Morocco, participated in the program. Associate Professor Dr. Bayram Tanık Çaycı and Associate Professor Dr. Muhammet Kamal, academics from Pamukkale University, also took part in the field inspection.

Work with Pamukkale University Expands Across Türkiye

Following this global success achieved in İzmir Bayındır, Türkiye’s established academic institutions have also begun to assume responsibility in line with the objectives of expanding and scaling up the project nationwide.

Prof. Dr. Mehmet İnel, the project coordinator under the existing “Protocol on the Reduction of Structural Disaster Risks and the Conduct of R&D Studies in Educational Institution Buildings and Their Annexes” between Pamukkale University and the MEB General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate, stated that, with their expert teams, they had prepared a “Structural Strengthening Implementation Project with External Frame” for a total of six schools in different provinces, with the aim of taking the success of the pilot implementation further. These seismic strengthening projects prepared by Pamukkale University constitute a critical milestone in extending MEB’s “resilient school approach” across Türkiye. Through the engineering projects prepared by the University, six more school buildings with different geographical and structural characteristics will be made fully safe against earthquakes without interrupting students’ education.

Safe Educational Infrastructure of the Future

Prof. Dr. Mehmet İnel, the project coordinator, stated that they were pleased to see this process, which began through international cooperation, growing with local engineering and academic contributions. The strengthening projects prepared by Pamukkale University using the external frame method have further reinforced the capacity to strengthen school buildings quickly and without evacuation. Prof. Dr. Mehmet İnel stated that, through the technical solidarity between Türkiye and Japan, both earthquake-prone countries, it will be possible to make more buildings earthquake-resistant by taking advantage of the speed and budget benefits of the “Structural Strengthening Implementation Project with External Frame,” and that, as Pamukkale University, they will continue contributing to the construction of the safe educational infrastructure of the future.