International experts positively evaluated the conference named ‘Reducing the risk of disaster in education’ which was held in Batumi. The representative of European Union/ECHO in south Caucasus and central Asia, Karl Alfonso declared support for the future collaboration on the project.
Above mentioned project has been implemented since 2010 and its major donor organization is Euro Commission. The conference was contributed to the end of third stage of the project, governmental and international organizations participated in the project. Specifically, the major partners from public body include The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, Ministry of Internal Affairs Emergency Management Agency, Crisis Management Council, The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources protection of Georgia. International and non-governmental organizations supporting the project are including United Nation Children’s fund, arbeiter-samariter-bund (ASB), Save the Children, the Center for Catastrophe, Red Cross.
As it was said above, the project was divided into three stages. Partner organizations had split the various educational segments on the basis of themes. The United Nation Children’s Fund was in charge of school part, ASB was responsible for preschool establishments, Inclusive education was managed by Save the Children and etc.
The list of accumulated activities in all three stages, implemented by the Department of National Education Planning of Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, was comprehensive and versatile. The implementation and integration of the issues concerning the reduction of disaster risks in education plays an essential role in national education planning subject standards.
Many important educational resources were carried out and a lot of activities have been performed on behalf of the project. Among them are: Interactive method-based teaching of reducing natural catastrophe risks – mentor books grades V-IX; Annual regional contest for students and a conference covering the topic of reducing the risks of disaster; Computer games for primary school students concerning the 5 common natural disasters in Georgia; Teacher training; Annual so called DRR camps; Evacuation plans for schools; Trainings for school staff including the board of directors and mandatories as well as pupils; The basic security equipment for schools; Practical leaching and simulation exercises concerning various scenarios ( Earthquakes, fire etc.); Monitoring of preparedness for current disaster activities at schools; Additional educational resources were introduced for preschool teachers and the pupils; Supportive educational resources for the special need students and teachers.
The group working on the risks of disaster which consist of governmental, non-governmental and international organizations developed a unified plan/matrix that will help in planning future actions and coordination.
It is important to emphasize an active involvement of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia in three important international events during the third stage of the project in 2014-2015:
- United nations world congress of reducing the risks of disasters, held in Sendai, Japan.
- Euro commission civil safety forum.
- Ministerial in Tehran, Iran, organized by the United Nations Office for disaster risks reduction.