Educate people on risk of diaster : Seameo told
With severe natural disasters affecting many parts of the world, Asean countries and Timor-Leste are being encouraged to provide education on the reduction of disaster risk so people can protect themselves.
In a bid to achieve this, the 34th Seameo (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation) High Officials Meeting yesterday endorsed the proposal to run a competition between member countries and motivate primary and secondary schools to offer their ideas on reducing disasters.
Japan will fund this project in collaboration with Seameo. Schools can submit their entries between April and July, and the winner will get a chance to go on a tour in Japan to learn and share best practices with schools there.
The project, entitled Seameo-Japan ESD (education for sustainable development), will focus on disaster-risk reduction in the first year.
“People are paying attention to disasters. We have to think how to teach our children about the issues,” Assoc Prof Witaya Jeradechakul, director of the Seameo Secretariat, said.
The delegates also followed up on the progress of one of the organisation’s key missions – Reaching the Unreached. This project aims to provide every child equal access to education.
The Seameo High Officials Meeting is an annual event that serves as a forum for discussion on priority issues, review of proposals and presentation of accomplishments.
Education Minister Woravat Auapinyakul presided over the opening of the meeting yesterday, which actually kicked off at Bangkok’s Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel on Tuesday and will run until tomorrow.
The sixth Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Education and the Asean+3 Senior Officials Meeting on Education will be convened as soon as this meeting wraps up.
