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| Sunday, 30 January 2005 |
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Natural disaster in the school curriculum by Shanika Sriyananda The lessons you learn in school will help you save a life your own or that of another, one day. Ten-year-old Tiliy of England is one such kid who used the lessons taught in school to save thousands of Thai people from the tsunami. Tiliy was holidaying with her family in Phuket, Thailand when she saw the sea receding. Remembering her geography teacher's explanation about the signs of impending earthquake in the ocean and how it could lead to a tsunami, she shouted a warning at the Thai people and tourists who were trying to catch the glimpse of the unusual behaviour of the sea. The quick thinking action of the 10-year-old made the people run away from the beach. Even the nearest hotel evacuated tourists and the natives from their buildings. Within a few minutes the 'mighty ocean' spilled over into the land. People who ran for their life, thanks to Tiliy and the British education system, which teach about natural disasters from a very young age, are still alive. Tiliy's action has prompted the survivors to dub her the 'angel of the beach'. In Sri Lanka, not just little kids like Tiliy but the entire adult population were unaware of what to expect or what to do when the sea water recedes. The poor knowledge of the warning signs natural disasters and ignorance about how to evade the impending danger made the adults to run to the beach to see the unusual behaviour of the sea, while the young ran to collect sea shells. Some, according to reports, caught fish 'swimming' on sand. The aftermath of the tsunami has impressed upon the educationists the importance of educating the future generation about natural disasters. At a recent meeting Prof. Sunanda Mahendra said that in some countries small children had been educated in the form of stories. According to Prof. Mahendra, in one book published in Hawaii, there was a story of a boy who ran to a hilly area with his sister when the sea receded. "The story is simple and in it the boy's father instructs him about the sign of the tsunami before he leaves to sea for fishing. He tells the son to run to a hilly place if he sees the sea receding", he said. Lessons we learnt from our grand mothers, or 'old wive's tales' as they are refereed to also provide unique information about disaster alertness. For example, the tales of the ocean passed down to generations of 'morgan sea gypsies', a group of fisher-folk in Thailand, where they were told to flee to a temple in the mountain when the sea behaves in an odd manner, helped to save their lives. In their stories about the tsunami, the morgan gypsies had been taught that when the sea receded fast, it would come back with huge a wall of water. Most of grandparents do not have time for story telling as they are still in the 'rat race' even in their retirement age. Therefore in the absence of story telling grannies, it is time for the story book writers to weave new simple stories around natural disasters to educate our younger generation. However, the aftermath of the tsunami disaster has promoted the National Institute of Education (NIE) to feature lessons on natural disasters in the revised school curriculum. For the first time in history, schoolchildren will be given the opportunity of studying about natural disasters including floods, bush fires, earthquakes, drought, tsunami and earthslips. They will also be educated on preventive measures that should be taken during natural calamities to protect themselves. The NIE is now in the process of exploring avenues to include these lessons in school textbooks. NIE Assistant Director General (Curriculum Development) Dr. I.L. Ginige told the 'Sunday Observer' that at present the main objective of NIE was to revise the present curriculum to educate the younger generation on natural disasters that frequently hit the country. Prof. C.B. Dissanayake last week stressed the need to prepare measures to meet earthquakes as an earthquake zone was developing 400 to 500 kilometres away from the island in the seas off Sumatra Islands. According to Dr. Ginige the NIE is holding preliminary discussions, but nothing concrete has been decided as to which lessons would be included. "Lessons on natural disasters will not be introduced as a separate subject. There are many subjects in the school curriculum and it will be a tiring task for children to study it as a separate subject", she added. The Advanced Level curriculum for 2006 is now being revised and revision of the grade 10 subjects for 2008 will also commence soon. However, according to Dr. Ginige, the NIE is now studying the possibilities of including lessons on natural disasters to one of these curricula. If necessary foreign experts in education will be consulted to formulate these chapters. According to NIE sources, these lessons will not be included in primary class textbooks. |
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