Innovative solutions to boost emergency preparedness in schools.

KARACHI -- Students, teachers, engineers and experts from a variety of fields have joined hands to design cost-effective and locally-relevant solutions to enhance the ability of schools to manage natural and man-made disasters.

According to an official of Aga Khan University (AKU) here on Tuesday, it was during a three-day hackathon at Aga Khan University's Institute for Educational Development that participants noted that the rare nature of emergencies such as fires, floods and other safety hazards meant that public and private sector schools were unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with such crises.

Unfortunately, such one-off events can have a disproportionate, and often catastrophic, impact on a school's operations and stakeholders, commented Azra Nazim, representing co-organisers of the event.

She emphasised that emergency response training, safety drills and other means of ensuring emergency preparedness are needed to be a regular part of a school's strategic planning and processes.

Experts on the occasion added that mitigation measures were often taken in the aftermath of disasters as they called on schools to adopt a forward-thinking approach that considered all possible risks in their environment as well as the processes needed to effectively manage a disaster.

One of the three winning teams at the event, BVS School Team, highlighted the problem of fires caused by short circuits in computer labs, classrooms and staff rooms.

They noted that the simple, preventive step of installing a carbon dioxide chamber inside electrical switchboards could stop a potential fire at its source and reduce the threat of loss of life and property.

Other teams at the event identified the way safety drills were conducted as being a problem.

The customary drills that happen in my school are casually planned, said Ahsan, a high school student taking part in the hackathon.

On the occasion Team Zords proposed the use of virtual reality (VR) technology to ensure active participation in safety drills.

They stated that VR provided an immersive experience for trainees which enhanced the retention of key concepts.

The team called on schools to prepare tailored sessions and a "safety curriculum" that would enable them to...