Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary, Br. Armin Luistro, FSC, emphasized the importance of psychosocial support in rebuilding the lives of the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda in the turn-over ceremony of the “Enhanced and Improved Teachers’ Manual on Psychosocial Interventions for Secondary School-aged Students during Disasters and Emergency Situations.”
“Life has to move on and life has to be better. And this project is a commitment to make life better for those affected by disasters,” Luistro said. “The teacher opens up the door after a disaster and taps the inner strength of the learners, so that they don’t have to go through the trauma for a long period of time.”
The enhanced manual is a result of DepEd’s partnership with the lead implementer, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and with the assistance of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP), as well as the funding support of the Official Development Assistance of the Government of Japan.
“This particular project is very special for us,” said DepEd Undersecretary for Administration and Finance, Reynaldo Laguda. “It addresses areas that are sometimes disregarded—especially when it comes to recovery. This is essentially talking about things that people don’t usually discuss and providing support for students, emotionally and psychologically.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Shahbaz Khan, director and representative of the UNESCO Jakarta Office, mentioned that UNESCO is actively working with the Department of Education by providing students and teachers with practical goals.
“We should help them cope with stress in a much better way.” Khan later proposed.
In addition, according to Marmon Pagunsan, a consultant of the UNESCO Jakarta Office Education Unit, the project is a collaborative effort to address post-disaster stress among children, especially the secondary students.
After convening its national and regional stakeholders, DepEd and partners conducted the pilot teachers’ training for this specific post-disaster psychosocial support earlier this year. These activities enhanced the technical skills for psychosocial interventions of the teachers.
“When you are victimized by a trauma and you lose everything, sometimes you lose even the dreams because they seem very unreachable, because you’re starting from scratch. What we’re trying to do is get them to dream again,” training facilitator from PAP, Dr. Maria Regina Hechanova said. (DepEd)