Risk Wise

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A model for learnership training programmes

in disaster management at higher education level:

a South African case study

A.J. Jordaan, University of the Free State; D. Pillay, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research,

and J. Madiba, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa

isaster preparedness essentially refers to a set of measures

that seeks to minimize the adverse effects of hazards that

result in loss of life and property, and it can be argued

that it is the responsibility of every individual as much as it is

the responsibility of governments and government agencies.

There has been a concerted effort to move from disaster manage-

ment practice to disaster risk reduction. It is primarily for this reason

that the key role players in this domain identified capacity building

as one of the more important strategies to mitigate disasters. Enabler

2 of the South African disaster management framework specifically

addresses disaster risk management priorities in education, training,

public awareness and research. This enabler describes mechanisms

for the development of education and training programmes for disas-

ter risk management and associated professions, and the

incorporation of relevant aspects of disaster risk management in

primary and secondary school curricula.

An affected community will need all the strengths and resources

available that can reduce the level of risk, or the effects of the disas-

ter. Therefore a community will need skilled personnel

with appropriate leadership and management attributes

to ensure the safety and security of the people. Many

organizations have taken the initiative to ensure that

training and development interventions are given prior-

ity, and we see greater involvement and investment from

government.

Funding model and key role players

The University of the Free State (UFS), in partnership

with the Department of Science and Technology (DST)

and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

(CSIR), has designed and successfully implemented a

graduate learnership in disaster risk management. This

learnership programme gives full-time as well as part-

time Masters students the opportunity to combine

theoretical work and practical experience as preparation

for the workplace.

CSIR, whose role is manifold, serves as the imple-

menting agency for the DST. However, the role of CSIR

is complemented by other key players such as the

University of the Free State, Department of Provincial

and Local Government (DPLG), Department of Water

Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and others such as

Municipalities and Metros. The efficient and effective

execution of the programme depends a great deal on the

support and co-operation of these institutions.

The bulk of the funding is provided by the DST and in

2007 DPLG and DWF also began contributing. As a result

of the success of the programme, DST provided a further

USD650,000 for the 2008 and 2009 academic intakes.

Recruitment process

A rigorous recruitment process is conducted to ensure

that high calibre, committed students are enlisted for

the training. As a result of advertisements in the

national media more than 800 applications were

received for the 2008 intake from which only ten

students were selected. The CSIR put in place a very

comprehensive induction programme which included

appropriate training interventions such as technical and

scientific report writing, presentation skills, creativity

Mr J. Madiba from DST hands the first cheque of ZAR2.3 million to acting rector of

UFS, Prof. Verschoor

Image: DiMTEC