Disaster Management through Educational Research
By Dr. Djuwari, Director of Language Laboratory, STIE Perbanas Surabaya, Indonesia
Dr. Djuwari, Director of Language Laboratory, STIE Perbanas Surabaya, Indonesia
It is imperative that all the nations see evidences concerning the attitude towards disaster in the country which is prone to such a calamity. Disasters in this case are such as tsunami, earthquake, flood, volcano explosion, and the like. Countries which are prone to such disasters should be addressed by introducing the strategy of having positive attitude rather than negative one.
It was five years ago, exactly in 2011, a research (Suryani and Djuwari, 2011) on the attitude of the college students towards the disaster in their environment provided some clues. There were some evidences indicating different perception towards the disaster.
In that study, we took 101 students in my college of between 18 to 23 years old. Among these college students, it indicated several results. For example, only 47.5 percent believed that the disaster in their environment was due to natural phenomenon which can be described scientifically. Unfortunately, the rest of 52.5 percent of them believed that it was due to mostly the mystical power.
When it is related to their religions, they thought that all disasters were due to the act of God. It is interesting for their religions were varied: Buddhists consisted of 6.9 percent, Hindu of 4 percent, Protestant and Catholic were 10.9 percent, and the majority was Islam of 78.2 percent.
With reference to the evidences above, disasters can be predicted that these calamities tend to be approached differently. They perceived mostly that these disasters are due to mystical power. Now that the attitude of human beings is obviously affected by the perception and this perception can create the attitude towards the disaster in the environment. It was about 5 years ago, exactly in 2011.
So far, in Indonesia, during the past five years, we have experienced fast advancement of information technology thought not as much as in other industrialized countries such as in the USA and Europe.
With the advancement of internet and social media, many young people get used to having communication through this virtual media. For that reason, in relation to a disaster, they can get easily informed especially those who live in the regions with virtual networking.
For developing nations, there are some lessons learned in relation to disaster. First of all, technology and its application in human life are necessary to be introduced to the people who live in the developing countries. It is more specifically in underdeveloped nations. In this case, the world organization is demanded to take actions. The organization with the world level should be called for this program.
“Projects can be designed by the assistance of the industries whose capability is of disaster management and technology”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) must be the most feasible for making any actions. This organization can do a mapping of the world condition and call for the leaders of any nations related to the disaster management. It should be cultivated by enlightening the target nations with good education and technological improvement supports.
There have been some disasters with many victims: people died both identified victims and unidentified ones. Early warning must be approached by infrastructure for having the early warning system with the state-of-the-art equipment. This is really urgent for the nations who live in low-technology support. By having the early warning equipment system, any disaster in the world can be detected earlier and this system can reduce the number of the victims.
The UNESCO can invite all the ministers of education in all countries under this organization. They should also prioritize their program in introducing people to the technology and its application in detecting the disaster in their environment. Education should also be introduced by providing some knowledge about the disasters: earthquake, tsunami, volcano explosion and the like. I believe that the budget in any developing country and especially in underdeveloped countries is low for this disaster management. Yet, it is essential to have such a program.
Besides the education, cultural program being connected with the technological equipment can be more fascinating. UNESCO can call the governments of all the countries to have a grand meeting especially for the discussion on disaster management. Introducing the nations into the disaster management by educating them is more appropriate. As it was found in our research that most of the college students thought that disaster is caused by mystical power. Yet, it can be studied and learned how to cope with the disaster in their environment.
Education and technology can improve the nations’ culture. This can be done by enlightening the nations to be literate with the science and technology. UNESCO can be the most appropriate body for acting in this role. Education and technology advancements are essential for making people aware of what has happened surrounding their environment. Projects can be designed by the assistance of the industries whose capability is of disaster management and technology.
Founded in 1970, Indonesia based STIE Perbanas Surabaya is a higher educational institution that provides teaching and learning aids including access to the science of economics business and banking & laboratories.
