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

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Section 10.
Case 7:
The Case Studies
Fiji
Teacher Professional Development/Guidance
Some 40 teachers were trained to use the Students’ and
Teachers’ Handbooks, presumably teachers from Suva
and environs (Ando et al, 2009, 26).
Learning Outcomes/Competencies
No systematic enumeration of DRR-related learning outcomes
has been developed but for each disaster-related intervention
in the curriculum, concepts, attitudes and skills to be
addressed have been specified (Pandey, 2007, 71). For example,
a grade 7 Health Science topic on floods includes the attitudinal
outcome of ‘appreciation of the need for proper planning and
action before, during and after a flood’ and the associated skills
outcomes relate to explaining, planning and taking proper
action (Ibid.).
Policy Development, Planning and Implementation Aspects
A national review workshop on the Reducing Vulnerability of
School Children to Earthquakes project’s educational materials
took place in December 2007 prior to more widespread
dissemination (Ando et al, 2009, 37).
Resolutions from a Workshop on School Safety and Disaster
Education, jointly organized by UNCRD and NDMO on 9/10
September 2008, called for ‘mainstreaming disaster risk
reduction education in the formal curricula of schools’ and
‘creating an interface between disaster awareness activities
of schools with the communities’ (UNCRD/NDMO, 2008, 3).
Driven by NDMO, the role of the Ministry of Education in the
Reducing Vulnerability of School Children to Earthquakes
project has been of an enabling rather than proactive nature.
‘The aim after this SESI pilot project will be to institutionalize
and sustain the efforts. Engagement with government
agencies will be a key part of this initiative. An increased
engagement with the Ministry of Education will be targeted,
and the work done on this issue by the NDMO will also be
aimed for transfer to the Ministry of Education for greater
ownership’ (Ando et al, 2009, 26).
The Fiji national progress report on implementing the Hyogo
Framework for Action Priority 3, Core Indicator 3.2, intimates
a somewhat more proactive engagement on the part of the
Ministry of Education (UNISDR, 2011, 78-9).
As of November 2011, the Ministry of Education has developed
an Emergency in Education policy that is awaiting final approval
but may help encourage greater commitment to more systematic,
national-scale DRR curriculum integration 37 .
An important catalyst for DRR developments in Fiji, involving
teachers, administrators, and primary and secondary students,
has been the holding of an annual National Disaster Awareness
Week (NDAW) managed by NDMO. In-class and in-school
student activity connects with the week (UNISDR, 2011, 79).
37
Ibid.
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries