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

75
Central and Eastern Europe
and the Commonwealth
of Independent States
Aleksandr Pogrebnoy, 14,
photographs the remains of his
classroom in Beslan, Russia.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2005-1309/Pirozzi
to reinforce the logic of the teaching process and the
attention to the age specificities of the learning cycle.
The minimum compulsory basis for all regions and all schools
is 105 hours to be taught in classes 7 to 9 for one hour per
week. For regions and schools with high disaster risks, it is
possible to adopt an alternative basic teaching plan with 175
hours covering classes 5 to 9 for one hour per week.
An additional, facultative programme is available for grades
10 and 11, but a draft law might make Basics of Life Security
compulsory also for grades 10 and 11 in addition to the
above-mentioned obligatory basic teaching plan 23 .
Basics of Life Security goes beyond natural hazards to cover
technological hazards, road safety, conflicts, and terrorism.
Present as a discrete subject, it is also infused in other subject
matters as a cross-cutting dimension. Reflection on Basics
of Life Security programme is encouraged in other carrying
subject matters (Ministry of Education of the Russian
Federation, 2009, 2011a).
The organisation of the teaching of Basics of Life Security is
modular with an overall objective of building a culture of safety
(Russian Federal Ministry of Education, Suggested Programme
of the General Education, Basics of Life Security) 24 .
The first principle of modularity is that each region organise the
course as appropriate to its regional context, and with regard
to regional capacities in the domain of population safety (Ibid.).
The structuring of the programme in Basics of Life Security
revolves around classes 5 to 9, in 2 main modules, each comprised
of 2 sections and 6 themes. The weight of the themes and
their inclusion or deletion can be freely determined by regional
educational institutions and schools in the light of their own
specificities and needs, and taking into account the relative
importance of all subject matters in the regional curricula.
Module 1: Main dangers for the individual, the community
and the country.
Aims at providing a culture of daily safety to students to
enable them to respond to different dangerous situations
and emergencies.
Section 1: Background on emergencies (can be taught
in classes 5 – 9)
Section 2: Protection of the population of the Russian Federation
from Emergencies (can be taught in classes 7 – 9)
Module 2: Healthy way of life and medical first aid
Aims at encouraging a healthy way of life for students,
and training them to provide first aid medical support.
Section 3: Background on healthy way of life (it is not DRR
per se, but some themes contained in this section are
relevant to DRR)
Section 4: First aid
Pedagogy
Regarding learning materials, much has been produced in Russia.
There are two main manuals covering the modules of Basics
of Life Security and that are recommended for use with classes
alongside the exercise books, Life without Danger and Attitudes
for Security. There is also a supplementary optional series of
leaflets, Alphabet of Security, along with four flexible course
23
Article Argumenty I Fakty, Ekaterina Dubanidi http://www.argumenti.ru/
education/n272/90975
24
http://standart.edu.ru/catalog.aspx?CatalogId=1083
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries