Comprehensive school safety program launched

MANILA, Philippines — A comprehensive school safety program was launched by the Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday in a bid to reduce risks of natural and human-induced hazards to school children.

The DepEd signed a partnership with Save the Children Philippines and Prudence Foundation for the Education Safe from Disasters Program, which aims to establish an effective information management and communication system that will increase the safety and preparedness capacity of all schools in the country.

“Safety is everyone’s job,” DepEd Undersecretary for administration Alain Del Pascua said during the program launch in Pasig City. 

“In the Department of Education, we have worked hard on mainstreaming the Comprehensive School Safety Framework into the education system, which aims to strengthen the pillars of safe learning facilities, school disaster management, and risk reduction and resilience education for schools,” Pascua added. 

The program seeks to build an enabling environment that will empower all stakeholders to realize the goals of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework, a global framework aimed at reducing risks from hazards throughout the education sector by addressing the stated three pillars of school safety.

It will establish an integrated disaster management system within the DepEd to continuously improve knowledge and capacity of all its personnel and learners on comprehensive school safety across all levels. 

Online resources and tools as well as training will be provided to schools and DepEd executives, while research will also be conducted on potentially adapting the model in other Southeast Asian countries to benefit a greater number of learners and teachers.

Save the Children Philippines chief executive officer Alberto Muyot said learners spend an average of five to eight hours a day in schools during weekdays, and that their safety and survival are critical while they are away from their parents and guardians.