Safety and preparedness begin at home

COLOMBO: The importance and practical applicability of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and school safety was highlighted during a two-day workshop on DRM, supported by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), held at the National College of Education (NCoE) Wayamba, Bingiriya recently.

Approximately 150 student teachers and twenty lecturers of the NCoE Wayamba learned about the concepts of natural and man-made disasters, disaster risks, risk mitigation and prevention. Participants identified hazards and vulnerabilities the NCoE is facing and developed suggestions for risk mitigation.

In a second part, the young men and women themselves practised emergency evacuation, drills and fire safety. Two experts from the local fire brigade came to provide instructions, explanations and recommendations and to supervise and evaluate practical exercises.

The workshop can be considered as the 'kick off' for the incorporation and implementation of DRM into the education system in the Colleges. It was planned and facilitated by the President of Wayamba College, H.M. Chandrasekara with support of Nimal Jayasekara, Vice President Administration of the NCoE Siyane.

"The event was part of the follow-up activities of a two-week training course on Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and school safety that was conducted from July 31 to August 11 at the National Institute for Disaster Management (NIDM) in New Delhi, India", explains Dr. Patricia Bitter, Advisor at the Education for Social Cohesion, Disaster Risk Management & Psycho-social Care (ESC, DRM& PC) programme, implemented by GTZ in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Institute of Education (NIE).

"The Sri Lankan delegation consisted of 24 education officers and teacher educators. In that training course, the group became familiar with concepts of DRM and its relation to the education sector. The hazard profile of India is comparable to that in Sri Lanka; sharing of experiences can contribute to learning for the Sri Lanka case.

The rich experience of India in DRM and education helps the participants to experience how concepts and strategies work in real life and motivates them to follow the good practices."

To transfer of contents and strategies to the Sri Lankan context was an important issue during the training course in India. Working plans for implementing DRM and school safety in teacher training were drafted. At the end of the course all participants went back to Sri Lanka with a different attitude towards DRM and safety: it had become a personal matter.

Teacher trainers and education officers said they would start at home to convince their families and neighbours of the importance of safety and preparedness.

The next DRM workshop in Sri Lanka targeting education officers is to be carried out for Teacher Centre Managers by the end of September at the NIE, organized by the NIE Faculty of Educational Leadership Development and Teacher Education, Department of Institutional Development and assisted by GTZ.

The Ministry of Education and the NIE collaborate very closely with GTZ in the field of DRM. The GTZ-assisted ESC, DRM&PC programme, which is partly funded by World Vision Germany, supports the educational authorities in improving and expanding their range of services, including disaster preparedness and sensitivity towards school safety.

DRM shall be integrated in teacher education and school curricula. School safety shall be reached through emergency plans and structures and regular mock drills.

Training and institutional capacity building of key and resource persons is the strategic approach for introducing DRM in the education system. In a second phase, the MoE, the NIE and the National Colleges of Education will establish the developed and tested concepts and implement them country-wide.