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

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Section 10.
Case 21:
The Case Studies
Costa Rica
Overview
Costa Rica is an example of inclusion of
DRR in a limited number of subjects but
still contributes to the overall reinforcement
of DRR by being carried within the
‘transversal theme’ of environmental
education.
Table 10. DRR in the Costa Rican Curriculum:
Some Examples
Introduction
Costa Rica has been developing disaster risk reduction education
mechanisms since the late 1980s. In 1987 the Ministry of
Education created an Educational Programme for Emergencies
(PEEMEP). Among the objectives of PEEMEP was to develop
didactic materials on disasters oriented towards teachers and
students and to coordinate and develop first aid courses and
evacuation plans for earthquakes and fires. In 1991, disaster
education was included in Science and Social Studies curricula
for primary school and was extended to secondary schools in
1993 (Ministerio de Educación Pública et. al, 2000,8).
Curriculum Development/Integration
In 2000 the Education Council approved environmental education
as a transversal theme in education with disaster risk prevention
and mitigation as one of its main components. Specifically,
disaster prevention is now taught within the Science curricula
for grade 1 -3 and within the Social Studies curricula for grades
4 -9. However, DRR appears in other subjects across the
curricula. A few examples are provided below 94 :
At the same time, the National Strategy for Environmental
Education implemented an annual National Week of Disaster
Risk Reduction Education during the second week of October
as a way to foster educational activities aimed at building
a disaster risk prevention culture (Monge, 2005).
School
Year
1
2
4
6
7
Subject
Science
Spanish
Social
Studies
Spanish
Civic
Education
DRR activity
Development of a list including
illustrations of country areas
vulnerable to floods or landslides.
Development of prevention
measures in risk situations
linked to dry or wet seasons
Establishment of semantic
groups of words on disaster
prevention
Identification of Costa Rica as a
zone vulnerable to earthquakes.
Development in groups of a risk
management plan
Analysis and writing of news
related to disasters from
television, radio and internet.
Student research, through
observation and interviews
of their peers’, family’s and
communities’ different
perceptions of vulnerability
and risks. Student drawing
of a risk map of their
communities
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Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries