Final workshop for the school-community DRR project [Bangladesh]
Our project on school-based capacity building for enhanced disaster risk reduction in Dhaka is coming to the end. A final workshop was organized to discuss the achievements of the project and identify ways forward. Participants of the workshop included the model schools and Dhaka North City Corporation, as well as other important stakeholders such as the education office, fire service, and Ministry of Disaster Management. Members of various DRR communities that helped the project as resource persons, NGOs that work on DRR in Dhaka, and the actors/actresses of our DRR video.
In the workshop, the initiative of using DRR education and installation of basic DRR infrastructure at the two model schools was recognized as an innovative good practice by the participants. However, at the same time they also recognized the challenge of starting something new and different in schools because teachers are usually busy and are involved in many school activities. Also, participants (especially the education officer) noted that issues related to disasters in coastal areas such as cyclones have been introduced in textbooks in Bangladesh, but urban disasters have not been covered in detail.
Participants concluded that it might be difficult to start all activities at the same time, but it is important to start with what schools can implement and on a step-by-step basis. They also suggested that rainwater harvesting, DRR training, DRR equipment setup, and evacuation drills are activities that schools can start immediately.
