ABSTRACT
A study from UNESCO revealed that children are particularly vulnerable to disasters, and schools are often not able to keep them safe. More than 50% of those affected by disasters worldwide are children. Learners spend most of their time in school, and as such, the school is held responsible for their safety and well-being. Thus, teachers and school administrators need to be properly trained in different untoward scenarios including disasters. The objective of this study is to assess the level of awareness and preparedness on Disaster Risk Reduction Management of Eusebio Junior High School teachers and non-teaching personnel. It also aims to get feedback from the seminars and workshops related to DRR that they have attended or participated and would like to take part as well. The results of this research will serve as a basis on designing a training program on DRR. Purposive sampling was used in the research. The respondents of the study were the 130 teachers and non-teaching personnel of Eusebio Junior High School for the school year 2018-2019. Using a survey questionnaire adapted from UNESCO, responses were gathered, tallied, and analyzed. The percentages of the positive response were used to identify the level of awareness and preparedness of the respondents. 90 respondents or 69% are HIGHLY AWARE on matters relating to Disaster Risk Reduction Management, while 32 respondents or 25% are WELL AWARE, 4 respondents or 3% of the population are AWARE and 4 respondents or 3% also are UNAWARE. In terms of the level of preparedness, 18 respondents or 14% are HIGHLY PREPARED in a disaster, 37 respondents or 28% are WELL PREPARED, 43 respondents or 33% were classified as PREPARED and 32 respondents or 25% are UNPREPARED. The results revealed a high level of awareness among all the disciples but a low level of preparedness on DRR was also observed. Most participants have attended seminars and trainings on Earthquake, Basic Fire Fighting and Basic Life Support. Usually, such seminars are done on school level on in-service trainings. Basic Life Support, Earthquake and Bomb Threat were the topics that the respondents would like to attend or participate further. The teachers and non-teaching personnel still opted to select topics that can be applied in different disasters. They are also looking forward on acquiring different skills to be developed to increase their level of preparedness. Based on these findings, a training that is focused on enhancing the level of preparedness among the Eusebio Junior High School teachers and non-teaching personnel must be developed with hands-on activities and workshops that will hone their skills related to Disaster Risk Reduction.
Keywords: disaster risk reduction management, awareness, preparedness, programs, skills