THE DEPARTMENT of Education has partnered with Save the Children Philippines and Prudence Foundation in launching mobile and web applications that will ensure speedy response and learning continuity in areas hit by disasters.

Undersecretary for Administration Alain del Pascua said that the Rapid Assessment of Damages Report mobile and web applications “will support our regional, division, and school-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Coordinators in reporting and rapidly assessing the impacts of disasters.”

Del Pascua said that the reports from the RADaR app will help officials estimate the extent of damage which will serve as the basis for response interventions in these schools.

Save the Children Philippines Chief Executive Officer Atty. Alberto Muyot said that the mobile and web application will be vital in ensuring the safety of learners and personnel once face-to-face classes resume.

“Children will bear the greatest impact if a disaster takes place in a school environment, and we must guarantee their safety during emergencies while they are away from their parents and guardians,” Muyot said.

Partners of the department said that the accurate and timely data provided by the RADaR app will ensure a strategic flow of information for response and life-saving decisions and actions by schools, communities, local governments, and concerned national organizations.

“Working hand in hand with the Philippine government, we are improving national systems for risk assessment, guidance, planning and reporting to support schools to build safe facilities, put appropriate emergency procedures in place, and to recover quickly when disasters take place,” said Marc Fancy, Executive Director of Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of PruLife UK’s parent company Prudential.

The Philippines ranks ninth among the most disaster-prone countries in the world, according to the 2019 World Risk Index.

Even before the Covid19 pandemic, DepEd had been working to enhance the safety of learners and personnel through the development of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Information System.

The RADaR app is part of the DRRMIS.

It will include other applications and tools, such as the Comprehensive School Safety Monitoring Application and the School Watching App, that will be pilot tested in selected schools across 20 divisions in Region III.