The National Service Training Program (NSTP) Educators Association in Region 10 (NEAR 10) tapped XU’s Regional Center for Expertise (RCE) in Education for Sustainable Development for a capability building workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) for NSTP faculty members in Region 10 on Jan 9-10 at Pearlmont Inn, Cagayan de Oro.
The activity aimed to encourage NSTP faculty members from all over the region to initiate a School Disaster Management Committee in their own schools by giving them the basics of putting together such a team and guiding them through the conduct of safety drills particularly for fire and earthquake.
Ultimately, the overarching goal of the workshop was to build a culture of preparedness.
“Students should be taught how to prepare for disasters as part of their education,” said Rev Fr Eric Velandria SJ, director of RCE, a network of existing formal, non-formal and informal education organizations concerned with influencing the curriculum toward adopting sustainable development practices.
For a start, Velandria encouraged the regular conduct of safety drills to be integrated in NSTP classes. He also advised to make it more engaging for the students.
“To conduct a safety drill won’t cost much, but we are already systematizing DRRM by integrating it into the existing university structure,” he said, emphasizing that students should be adequately prepared to help themselves and others should disasters strike.
The participants were taught basic concepts of disaster, phases of disaster risk management, building safety evaluation, and formation of a disaster management committee. They were also given a checklist to help assess how safe their school is from disasters.
On hand were resource speakers from XU, namely Engr Dexter Lo of the Engineering Resource Center, Engr Ramil Pajo and Engr Raymond Carreon of the Physical Plant Office, and Lt Apollo Bacas and Col Danilo Sotto of the Security, Safety and Health Committee. They related how XU carries out its safety and maintenance operations.
The Operations Officer of the Office of Civil Defense Region 10 Patrick Allain Callanta also shared about natural disaster risks affecting Northern Mindanao, while Bukidnon State University Professor Rhondell Paraiso imparted on disaster response and the conduct of safety drills.
“We are building a culture of preparedness for disasters so we can mitigate the risks,” said Velandria. “That can be one of our contributions to nation building.”
John Banaynal, CHED supervisor overseeing the NSTP program in Region 10, lauded the efforts of NEAR 10. He assured the participants that CHED is ready to accommodate requests that serve to reinforce the civic welfare training service of NSTP.