TISS plans online disaster management programme….Mihika Basu
To equip lakhs of Red Cross volunteers across the globe with skills to manage a disaster, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is launching a massive online training programme next year.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) approached us in September and said they would like us to develop an online programme in disaster management. They said the programme should be available to their national societies, spread across 186 countries. The modalities are currently under discussion. We hope to launch the programme by September 2012, said Janki Andharia, professor at the Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management (JTCDM), TISS.
In the aftermath of the World War II, the IFRC was started in 1919 and disaster response and relief operations were a major part of its work. IFRC has its headquarters in Geneva.
The training will be imparted online and could include a combination of live and recorded lectures. There will also be face-to-face discussions and question-answer sessions. Much of the training will be done online and there will also be contact components. We are identifying large number of resource personnel and are also in the process of developing the right IT environment to deliver this programme. The aim is that while they will have to follow instructions online, volunteers will also have hands-on support at their end. The programme will be certified by the Academic Council of the Institute, said TISS director S Parasuraman.