The School-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Program in Disaster Prone Areas: A case study of Yogyakarta
Creators: name: Anggaryani, Mita
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2020

description: This research focuses on disaster education and the Indonesian government's reports on the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015. This research also underlies the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030, which calls for a more profound paradigm shift through the educational field than does the HFA. The SFDRR positions 'understanding risk' as priority number one, which implies the role of education in disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs. As the international framework for DRR changes, it is necessary for Indonesia to evaluate its existing programs and make improvements to the DRR strategy in the education sector that applies to each region. This study focuses on the stakeholders who are expected to have the capacity to establish the DRR program as a long-term strategy for DRR in the education sector. The school community needs to know how to correctly respond to disasters to limit injuries and potentially fatal effects. However, there have been no previously published studies evaluating how the existing DRR programs in schools affect the stakeholders and school community in committing to the DRR programs. This study investigates the school-based DRR programs in Yogyakarta. This study seeks to analyse the role of stakeholders in the school-based DRR program, the communication barriers in the school-based DRR program, the risk communication strategy in the school-based DRR program, and the effect of the school-based DRR program on the school community. The following research questions were established to help the investigation: How are the stakeholders at different levels of institutions involved in the school-based DRR programs? How does the implementation of the school-based DRR program in Yogyakarta affect the school community's awareness of DRR? This study applies an in-depth interview method, with purposive samples from the Disaster Management Agency (DMA), Department of Education (DoE) and schools. All participants in this study were interviewed based on their capacity to provide information related to the school-based DRR program in Yogyakarta. The government officer group consisted of officers from the DMA (six people) and officers from the DoE (four people). The school community group consisted of school principals (18 people) and teachers (36 people), from elementary to secondary levels, who were actively involved in communicating DRR interventions in 20 disaster-prepared schools in Yogyakarta. The DMA plays a vital role in the school-based DRR program in Yogyakarta. The DoE supports the program by providing consultation and supervision for the school regarding the integration of DRR into the school curriculum. However, these two critical institutions seem to lack coordination. The findings indicate that the school-based DRR programs have experienced a slow progression. In addition, the school community lacks commitment to continue the program. Visitations and interviews with school communities in 20 schools with DRR programs indicated that 40% of the schools had discontinued the DRR program, 35% could continue the program as long as it was supported by the DMA and DoE, 20% planned to continue the program independently, and 5% stated that the school community did not have adequate information about the DRR program. The results indicated that, although the school-based DRR programs affect the DRR awareness of the school community, the sustainability of the programs has never been guaranteed. In brief, the commitment of the school community to continuing the DRR program is influenced by the active involvement of the local stakeholders from the DMA and DoE. Integrating the DRR into the school education system is a complex endeavour that requires a strong national political will and a systematic approach to sustain the action.