The Centre has sought all universities to 'consider' introduction of compulsory courses on disaster management to enable students to handle situations like 'campus shooting and terror attacks.' DH file photo for representation
The Centre has sought all universities to "consider" introduction of compulsory courses on disaster management to enable students to handle situations like “campus shooting and terror attacks.”
“Preparation is the key to saving precious lives or minimize the possible losses if disaster strikes. Consider compulsory courses on disaster management for all students,” the University Grants Commission (UGC) said in an official communication to all vice-chancellors on Wednesday.
The advisory was issued to all universities following an instruction from the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
“The Government of India is giving high priority to make students aware about disaster management in higher educational institutions. Planning for natural disasters and emergencies is something every educational institution must consider,” UGC secretary PK Thakur said.
The higher education has asked the universities to introduce compulsory courses on disaster management for students of all streams.
The course curriculum should cover a range topics including a bomb threat, earthquake, explosion, hazardous material spill, campus shooting, terrorist incidence and financial emergency, it suggested the vice chancellors.
Classes on financial emergency should enable students to deal with any case of a sudden health emergency, unexpected loss of income, death in the family and another family emergency, the UGC added.
The Commission also sought to draw the attention of the vice chancellor towards its previous circulars on safety and security of the students on university and college campuses.
“Educational administrators across the country have requested to ensure that students are safeguarded against attacks, threats and accidents,” the Commission said, asking the vice chancellors to ensure its guidelines on the safety and security of the students is duly implemented.
“The higher educational institutions should see to it that this initiative doesn’t end up in an academic ritual. They should organize mock drills, workshops and awareness programmes frequently to give students firsthand experience of tackling situations of disaster. They have also been advised to provide self-defence training to women students. It's all there in UGC guidelines,” a Ministry official said.