BASSETERRE St.Kitts, March 11th 2011 -The United States Office of Foreign Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is collaborating with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to reactivate the School Safety Programme in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The programme was first implemented a few years ago, but was discontinued, according to National Disaster Coordinator, Mr. Carl Herbert, as a result of a variety of challenges, experienced by the facilitators .
“Through all of this,” Mr. Herbert said, “USAID/OFDA remained committed to the process, and they have provided the necessary support, to ensure its progress.”
In keeping with their commitment, the School Safety Programme has been picked up and dusted off, with the intention of being re-introduced to the school systems, following a “Train the Trainers” workshop, to be held at NEMA Headquarters next week.
The workshop is being spearheaded by NEMA, in conjunction with USAID/OFDA’s new Consultant for St. Kitts and Nevis, Mrs. Audrey Mullings, and the Ministry of Education. Some thirty public school teachers are to be qualified in the exercise, which will be shared with educators in the private school sector, later into the school year. A similar activity is also scheduled to take place on Nevis later this month, as part of a project, sponsored by the Organisation of American States.
“It is our hope,” Mr. Herbert says, “that our Federation can glean tangible benefits from this essential training, as we have long recognised that education increases the resiliency of communities to hazards.” Herbert has been lobbying for the institution of comprehensive public awareness programmes, which focus on multi-hazard impact, for some time now.
“Preparing communities to mitigate against disasters, always begins with the sharing of knowledge,” he says, “and as everyone in our Federation knows, people always listen to what school children say, so they are critical to the success of this programme.”
A School Safety Stakeholders Consultation, will follow on the heels of the training, on March 25th, bringing together thirty participants from both St. Kitts and Nevis, to deliberate on the outputs of the workshop and to define the way forward.
The School Safety Workshop takes place at NEMA HQ, from 16th to 18th March, 2011.
