Training for Teachers and Education Officials in Disaster Risk Reduction and Response

 

Activities:

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• Develop modules for disaster risk reduction and incorporate into the educational curricula.

• Provide training to all teachers in disaster risk reduction and emergency response.

• Develop emergency and disaster protocols and provide training for staff at all schools so that everyone is clear on their respective roles during and after a natural disaster.

• Develop educational and training material for use with different age groups on the impacts of climate change and the steps that individuals can take to lessen the impacts.

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Reducing Vulnerabilities in School Facilities

 

Activities:

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• Conduct an island-wide assessment of the vulnerabilities of all schools on the island and identify the measures that need to be taken to reduce the risks associated with these schools.

• Design a medium to long-term plan to reduce the vulnerabilities of the schools, including improvements to structural integrity, employment of flood mitigation measures, improving the stability of access roads and surrounding lands.

• Relocate all schools that are found to be in areas where the risk of catastrophic damage or loss of lives from a natural disaster is found to be high.

• Undertake a plan to install solar-photovoltaic panels on all schools so that they may not only reduce their daily consumption of energy, but also have backup energy supplies in the event of a disruption to the supply from the national grid as the result of a natural disaster.

• Install rainwater harvesting facilities at all schools on the island, with adequate storage to provide water for at least one week.

• Utilize construction methods in the construction of new schools or the retrofit of existing ones that have been proven to be more durable to high winds and flooding, but also make use of ambient lighting and cross ventilation.

• Make adequate provision for storm water management and control on all school grounds.

• Minimize, as much as possible, the use of schools as emergency shelters. Where schools must be used as shelters, make every effort to ensure that normal classroom activity can be resumed in the shortest possible time after the emergency.

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Managing Stress after a Disaster

 

Activities:

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• Design a tracking system for use at the air and sea ports to record students who have migrated after a disaster.

• Provide voluntary post-disaster counseling for students and teachers in affected communities.

• Explore the option of a regional response for the short-term provision of counsellors after a disaster.

• Provide training to first responders in recognizing symptoms of stress or stress-related illness in citizens and in psychological first aid.

• Expand the pool of persons trained in psychological first aid