Urgent Need for Resilience in School

On 23 January 2018, most of Southwestern part of Java Island experienced earthquake including, West Java, the most populated province in Indonesia. With magnitude about 6.1 SR, the earthquake damaged some buildings in West Java and injured some people. Its epicentrum is located south of Java near Lebak, and 61 Km in depth (1). The earthquake affects many cities such as Jakarta, Banten, Bandung, and other regions in West Java such as Cianjur District. In Cianjur, the earthquake caused damage to buildings, one of them beig SMKN 1 Tanggeung. Due the shocks, few tiles of school building that fell off during the earthquake when learning process, 8 students of High School SMKN 1 Tanggeung suffered injuries (2).

Cianjur District is themost disaster-prone areas in Indonesia, scoring 250 in disaster risk index (3). One of the most dangerous hazard in Cianjur district is landslide and land movement. The earthquake could trigger landslide or liquefaction. This makes some areas in Cianjur district highly vulnerable to earthquake. According to RDI research in 2016, Tanggeung sub-district "which SMKN 1 Tanggeung is located" is considered to have high vulnerability for land movement hazard. Preparedness is important for communities located in disaster prone areas, one way to increase community preparedness and reduce disaster risk is through education (4). Student and school preparedness towards disaster risk is an important element in facing emergency situation and prevent future incidents.

However, RDI's most recent study showed that in Cianjur district there is lacking of  material and curriculum on disaster management. The students have limited knowledge on disaster management, furthermore being prepared for evacuation when disaster strikes. There is no safe school program initiated by disaster management agency to increase resilience of school yet up until 2017; in fact RDI team found a school located in steep slope, making it vulnerable to landslide that may put the school at risk for damage even casualties anytime if not handled properly.

School Building which located in step (vulnerable) area

Increasing the resilience of students and even school is one of approaches to prevent this situation. There are several methods that could be done such as development of relevance curriculum or training in managing emergency situation. Not only in school, student could also be provided by information and knowledge in home, neighborhood, and village. As village has authority to manage itself, develop program in increasing the awareness of villages could be an approach used. It also possible to integrated disaster management in social protection program such as Family Hope Program (PKH), Indonesia Smart Program(PIP) and etc.

1.  BMKG. Press Release Gempabumi Provinsi Banten, M 6.1, Selasa, 23 Januari 2018, 13:34:53 WIB [Internet]. bmkg.go.id. 2018 [cited 2018 Jan 25]. Available from: http://www.bmkg.go.id/press-release/?p=press-release-gempabumi-provinsi-banten-m-6-1-selasa-23-januari-2018-133453-wib&tag=press-release&lang=ID

2.  Alamsyah S. Gempa Banten , 8 Pelajar SMK Tanggeung Cianjur Tertimpa Genting [Internet]. Detik. 2018 [cited 2018 Jan 25]. Available from: https://news.detik.com/berita-jawa-barat/d-3830104/gempa-banten-8-pelajar-smk-tanggeung-cianjur-tertimpa-genting

3.  BNPB. Indeks Risiko Bencana Indonesia. Jakarta; 2013. 

4.  Oxfam GB. The Disaster Crunch Model: Guidelines for a Gendered Appro. Oxford; 2012.

Writers:

Husnul Aris Alberdi & Yasmina Wulandari