SCHOOLS across the country will simultaneously test how quickly they can respond, evacuate and reunite students with their families during an active human-induced threat on Aug. 25, as the Department of Education (DepEd) applies lessons from the recent shootings in Tacloban and Zamboanga City.

DepEd Undersecretary Malcolm Garma told a Senate hearing Thursday that the department has completed protocols for the exercise with the Philippine National Police (PNP) after initially testing them at Manila Science High School.

“We will be rolling out the nationwide simultaneous drill for August 25. Next week po yan, Madam Chair(That will be next week, Madam Chair),” Garma said.

Unlike conventional earthquake drills, the exercise will test how school personnel and learners react while a human-induced threat is unfolding and what happens immediately afterward.

Garma said a major component will be the reunification stage, where students, parents, medical responders and police are directed to designated areas instead of converging chaotically around the school.

“Malaking bahagi po dun sa drills namin yung tinatawag po namin reunification stage kung saan alam ho ng mga involved kung saan pupunta, saan mag-iipon-ipon together with the medical responders, the police enforcers, nasa isang lugar (A major part of our drills is what we call the reunification stage, where everyone involved knows where to go and where to gather together with medical responders and police in one place),” he said.

The protocol is an offshoot of DepEd’s assessment of the Tacloban shooting, where Garma said the post-incident situation became chaotic because students and parents did not immediately know where to go.

“Isa pong bagay na natutunan namin at sana ma-institutionalize na po natin is really the need for the drills (One thing we learned, and which we hope to institutionalize, is really the need for drills),” he said.

The nationwide exercise will be conducted in cooperation with the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Garma said preparedness could also serve as a deterrent if potential attackers know that schools have established procedures for responding immediately to violence.

“Importante yung preparation and readiness and awareness ng school to react, immediately to react kung meron hong ganitong ongoing threat (The preparation, readiness and awareness of schools are important so they can react immediately when there is an ongoing threat),” he said.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said recent incidents have forced schools to prepare for threats beyond the usual natural disasters.

“It’s just sad, but a reality today na kailangan tuloy magkaroon ng protocols and drills on active human-induced threats. So hindi na lang po yung usual na earthquake drills natin na duck, cover and hold (It is just sad, but it’s a reality today that we now need protocols and drills on active human-induced threats. So, it is no longer just the usual earthquake drills where we duck, cover and hold),” Hontiveros noted.

DepEd said the Aug. 25 exercise will allow officials to assess how the protocol works at the school level and identify gaps that need to be addressed before the system is further institutionalized. (PNA)