BACKGROUND

SHINe or the School Hydrological Information Network is a simple school-based program activity that aims to address the issues on the effects of climate change, in particular focusing on awareness to hydrometeorological-related hazards. It is one way of supporting the Department of Education’s (DepEd) thrusts in its developmental program on “climate change” enhanced curriculum. The program is also consistent with the underlying foundation that disaster awareness and mitigation begins both at home and in the school.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

1. Enhance the disaster awareness of the school’s populace through its regular hydrological monitoring thus making them prepared – preventing loss of lives and damage to properties;

2. Coordinate and provide timely hydrological information to the PDRRMO, the local DRRMCs at Municipal and Barangay levels in support to their operational local flood early warning system in their respective areas of concern;

3. Develop long-term strategies at the local and provincial levels from the data and information collected from the network of observations by the SHINe school groups.

BRIEF HISTORY

Mid-year of 2010, OXFAM, an international NGO, recognized the activity as an innovative program and one of the good practices for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). In December 06, 2010 the first SHINe Conference was held in Hiyas Convention Center, City of Malolos, Bulacan. With more schools being selected as beneficiaries of the program so did the annual conferences continued and has now become a regular activity of SHINe for Bulacan Province. The conferences were also an avenue for various orientations to DRR activities such as Basic First Aid, Water Safety, Fire Suppression, orientation to Child’s Rights and Basic Self-Defense, and lately has transformed into team-building activities.

Early part of 2013 the PGB through the PDRRMO had a tie-up program with Save the Children’s project “ENCORE” (Enhancing Community Resilience to Disasters). More schools were made part of SHINe as a result of this. SHINe was also replicated in the Municipality of Baggao, Cagayan in some 11 schools through the DILG’s GO-FAR program, and similary (Baggao) had their own conference as well. To date, a total of 30 secondary and 7 elementary school levels are SHINe beneficiaries in the province of Bulacan.