Experts stress education on disasters

 Kathmandu, June 27: Data on major disaster incidents across the country by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) show that 505 people died, 76 went missing and 1,777 individuals got injured in a total of 3,904 incidents across the country from April 14, 2021, to April 13, 2022.

According to the NDRRMA, since April 14, 2022, until Sunday, 84 people have died, one has gone missing and 200 individuals have been injured in 844 disasters.

Major disasters wreaking havoc in Nepal include landslides, floods, lightnings, household and forest fires and wildlife attack among others.

“Many cases of deaths and damages would have been prevented if the victims were aware about disasters and preventive measures,” said Dijan Bhattarai, spokesperson for NDRRMA.

Bhattarai, an under-secretary of the government, added, “Disasters are related with our day-to-day lives due to which one must be aware about them. Providing information about disasters and their cause and prevention to individuals from an early age can help reduce damages due to calamities.”

On Saturday, NDRRMA had also organised a discussion programme at the capital regarding the need of equipping educational curriculum with disaster-related courses. 

The programme was attended by officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Forests and Environment, National Examinations Board and local level representatives from the Kathmandu Valley.

“Disasters are sometimes inevitable and sometimes caused by human error. Educating children on disasters will allow them to take proper steps during a disaster and they will also be aware of ways to prevent disasters as well,” said Bhattarai.

Experts argued that children can be taught to not play with fire and electricity, importance of afforestation and keeping water sources clean during primary classes and advanced teachings on global warming and climate change, among others, in higher classes.

Meanwhile, officials associated with curriculum development argued that school curriculum had information on disasters and its safety measures.

“Disaster-related teachings have been included in the textbooks through different subjects and topics from primary to secondary level. 

However, there has been a lack of effective teaching about it to the students,” said Babu Ram Dhungana, information officer at Curriculum Development Centre. NDRRMA’s spokesperson Bhattarai also echoed the same. “Education curriculum includes disaster-related topics. However, they are not included in a managed way. It has disallowed teachers to provide education on disasters effectively,” he said.

According to experts, children share a majority of the deaths due to drowning, electrocution and fire. They suggested that respective local levels should provide education on disasters in tandem with the geography.

“Different places across the country are prone to different disasters due to geographical differences. Local levels play a major role in the education sector within their respective territory due to which they can also assist in preparing a proper curriculum related to disasters likely in their areas,” said Dhungana.

Experts also informed that people were being more active in gaining knowledge on disasters and climate change nowadays as they have become well aware about their dire consequences.

“Since people are afraid of the consequences from degradation of nature, they are eager to learn the ways of protecting it. We need a managed curriculum and plan to reach the public and make them aware of disasters from an early age,” said Bhattarai.

Meanwhile, Dhungana added that the centre was regularly upgrading its curriculum based on the necessity of time and had taken the issue of including disaster-related subjects in the courses seriously.