Assessment of the School's Disaster Risk Reduction Practices

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act provides a comprehensive, all-hazard, multi-sectoral, inter-agency, and community-based approach to Disaster Risk Management framework. The act shifted the policy environment and the country’s preparations for disasters. This study aimed to assess the level of involvement of Grade 12 Students of Southville 1 Integrated National High School in disaster risk reduction and the factors attributed to the effectiveness of these practices. Furthermore, this study aimed to develop capacities in disaster management of the school through student initiatives.

METHODS

The study used a descriptive survey research design and used stratified random sampling to select 130 Grade 12 students to answer the researcher-made survey questionnaire. It contains the level of involvement of the students in terms of Disaster Preparedness, Safety Precautions, and Drills Implementation. In addition, it contains the factors affecting Disaster Risk Reduction Practices. The researchers used the weighted mean as a statistical treatment.

RESULTS

The Grade 12 students are moderately involved in the school's disaster risk reduction practices in terms of Disaster Preparedness, Safety Precautions, and Drills Implementation. This is supported by the study of UNISOR (2015) which stated that some schools conduct disaster practices for the awareness of the students in a disaster which regulate the proper ways of action, response, and responsibility of each student. Furthermore, the factors including the environment, student's behavior, local community involvement, student's responsiveness and coordination among stakeholders attributed to the effectiveness of the school's disaster risk reduction practices. It signifies that R.A. No. 10121 is adopted not only in a multi-level system but also becomes multi-relational involving the social system of the community.

DISCUSSIONS

Results reveal that the level of involvement of Grade 12 students on the school's disaster risk reduction practices is only moderate. This implies that their involvement could still be improved through efforts by the school administration and the community. The factors attributed to the effectiveness of these practices include the environment, student's behavior, local community involvement, student's responsiveness, and coordination among stakeholders. To address the issue, the researchers propose a Facebook page that provides information on disaster risk and readiness.