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

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Section 10.
Case 2:
The Case Studies
Georgia
Overview
Georgia offers an example of the
systematic enrichment and vivification
of DRR treatment in existing core
curriculum through the introduction
of two special initiatives: the addition
of DRR themes to a new, mandatory Civil
Protection and Safety course for grades
4 and 8, and the introduction of DRR
learning into the mandatory Head of
Class Hour programme for grades 5 to 9.
Introduction
The incorporation of disaster risk reduction in the National
Curriculum of Georgia is a recent development that has taken
place within the framework of the April 2010 to June 2011
Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction amongst Vulnerable
Communities and Institutions In the Southern Caucasus project
funded by the Disaster Preparedness Programme of the
European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
(DIPECHO).
Curriculum Development/Integration
In preparing for the new initiatives, existing primary and
secondary curricula were reviewed for the presence of
disaster-related themes by a DRR Education Working Group
comprising experts from the National Curriculum Centre (NCC)
of the Ministry of Education and Science, the National Centre
for Teacher Professional Development, the Emergency
Management Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,
the Ministry of Environment Protection and UNICEF. Themes
and issues were found at the primary level in Natural Science
(emergency, safety-related and health-bringing life skills,
grades 1-6 environmental protection, human impact on nature,
environmental impact of disasters, grade 6) and Social Science
(humans and nature, environmental issues, sustainable
development grades 1-6). At the secondary level, DRR themes
and issues were identified in Geography (hazards and their
cause and effects), Civic Education (active participation for
a safe environment) and Natural Sciences (ecosystems,
environment and health). (European Commission/UNICEF,
2011b, 9-10, UNICEF, 2011, 2).
The stand-alone Civil Protection and Safety programmes for
grades 4 and 8, dealing with everyday safety, security and life
skills, began in January 2011. UNICEF’s contribution to drawing
up the topic list led to the addition of disaster prevention and
risk reduction and safety in emergencies themes (European
Commission/UNICEF, 2011b, 10). DRR remains, however,
‘relatively modest in scope’ (UNICEF, 2011, 2) within the
programme.
More ambitious has been the Head of Class Hour programme
covering grades 5-9. In the programme, the Head of Class,
the coordinator of teachers of each grade level is essentially
given the responsibility of conducting a one-hour lesson each
week on cross-curricular topics not easily accommodated
within core subjects. The programme encompasses not only
discussions in the classroom but also a range of practical activities
such as excursions and environmental campaigns. As part
of the Head of Class Hour programme children also participate
in the mapping of school hazards, risk and vulnerability and
in developing school disaster preparation plans, giving them
opportunities to learn by doing as well as to test their newly
acquired knowledge in practice 14 .
The Head of Class Hour covers, inter alia, natural hazards and
global disaster trends, climate change, multiple natural hazards
in Georgia, disaster mitigation, developing the concept of
volunteerism among students, and community involvement
(UNICEF, 2011, 4). The programme is organized around sixteen
thematic modules, each devoted to a particular natural hazard,
with most modules including activities for a range of grade
levels for which the topic is held to be appropriate. For example,
14
Nino Gvetadze, UNICEF Georgia, to Fumiyo Kagawa & David Selby,
20 November 2011.
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries