Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies ... - Unicef

124
Section 10.
Case 14:
The Case Studies
Madagascar
In grade 7 Science and Technology one of six themes
(18 hours of teaching) concerns the degradation of the quality
of the regional environment with topics such as degradation
of soil quality, rice field flooding, disappearance of local forests,
mineral exploitation. Within each topic, students work on:
protecting the soil (e.g., composting, mulching, and alternating
how land is used); working to prevent/reduce pollution
(e.g., reducing wood burning, planting trees, recycling);
and conducting an enquiry into mineral exploitation.
In grade 7 Mathematics, work is undertaken (42 hours of teaching)
on measurement and scale which includes studying
the area of forest devastation on the east coast of Madagascar
and on the area of drought-induced devastation caused by
climate change in the Androy region of the country (identifying
the areas concerned on maps). The unit also includes consulting
maps on the impact of climate change on agriculture and
examining levels of carbon consumption.
Climate change is thus a leitmotif of the grade 7 primary
curriculum, exploring the connection between climate change
and the environment, analyzing the causes of climate change,
identifying the consequences, and taking action by way
of mitigation and adaptation.
Civic Education is also proving an important vehicle for DRR
learning. Introduced into the curriculum in 1999, the programme
now includes DRR and climate change in the fourth and fifth
years of the primary curriculum in particular. ‘While [the]
approach is heavy on theory, it involves some simulation
exercises’. A new high school curriculum in Citizenship is on
the drawing board and may prove fertile ground for DRR themes 57 .
Pedagogy
Learning and teaching couple a textbook-based approach with
active and participatory learning, including simulation exercises.
Of particular note is what is described as the ‘situation approach’
in which ‘a past emergency is discussed and explored with the
objective of applying lessons learned to a future disaster including
prevention and preparation methods’. Teachers, it seems,
choose a hazard according to what is experienced locally and
according to seasonality. ‘Cyclones are discussed in the fourth
or fifth year of primary once a week before the cyclone season
to teach students about the definition, origin and development.
This is followed by discussions on impact, including the necessary
steps to be taken in their school and community to reduce
these impacts before the disaster occurs and (in) the aftermath
of the disaster. The goal of these exercises is to incite long-term
behaviour change in students’ 58 .
The Education Cluster has produced two films to teach students
about tsunamis and cyclone hazards 59 .
Student Assessment
DRR-specific assessment in Madagascar is used for formative
purposes. Simulation exercises are employed to ascertain levels
57
Ibid.
58
Ibid.
59
http://www.mg.one.un.org/HAYZARA/index.php?option=com_content&view
=article&id=443%3Acyclone-cluster-education-reduction-des-risques-et-cat
astrophes2010&catid=31%3Areports&Itemid=48&lang=fr
http://www.mg.one.un.org/HAYZARA/index.php?option=com_content&vie
w=article&id=442%3Atsunami-simulation-madagascar-menbngrc-ioga-me
teo-cpgu-unicef-pnud2009&catid=31%3Areports&Itemid=48&lang=fr
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries