Officials from NSDMA, DoSE, and NagaEd with winners of the school safety excellence award during the State-level Teachers’ Day celebration, 2024.
Kohima, August 29 (MExN): In a significant move to address critical safety gaps, the Government of Nagaland has launched a first-of-its-kind training programme to prepare schools for disasters, a response to national education safety audits indicating over 90% of Indian schools lack basic disaster preparedness.
The Nagaland Disaster Management School Safety Policy (NDMSSP) Compliance Course is an initiative by the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) in collaboration with the Department of School Education (DoSE) and digital education company NagaEd. Launched in 2023, the programme is currently in its second phase after the successful completion of Phase 1.
Unlike a “passive orientation session”, the course is an “immersive, step-by-step training experience designed to walk schools through real-world disaster scenarios” relevant to Nagaland. Developed by NagaEd, it features Interactive and contextual modules tailored for Nagaland’s disaster profile (landslides, floods, tremors, etc) and interactive assessments to drive engagement and information retention.
Officials underscored the programme's critical importance. “Preparedness is the difference between panic and protection. When teachers and students know exactly what to do, disasters don’t have to turn into tragedies,” said Johnny Ruangmei, Joint Chief Executive Officer of the NSDMA.
The initiative is also being seen as a scalable blueprint for other regions. Its instructional design integrates “learning science, local relevance, and government standards into one unified training system.”
For education leaders, NGOs, CSR partners, and DRR professionals, it serves as a ready-to-implement framework that helps bridge the gap between policy and practice.
“Nagaland is leading by example. This initiative shows that with the right vision and commitment, school safety can evolve into a lasting culture, not just a compliance formality,” said Aonok Aier, Head of Projects & Learning Excellence, NagaED.
Phase 2 of the School Safety Policy Compliance Course is live. To register, visit the Department of School Education website.
