POST GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

It is well known that Bangladesh is a highly disaster-prone country and particularly in this context of widespread poverty, disasters often assume great proportions; both risk and vulnerability to various disasters is extensive. Some disasters, such as floods and drought, are annual and cause national loss at a regular frequency. Others, such as cyclones and earthquakes, are waiting in the offing, and it is not hard to imagine the destruction that could occur in a severe earthquake in the rapidly growing and densely populated urban areas. There is thus an important need for disaster management in this context where disasters are a part of life. There is, however, no educational or training program on disaster management in Bangladesh. A few institutions run some courses related to this field within their regular curricula, but there is no specialized program of study or training on disaster management. Most people active in this field are either trained abroad or learn from work experience, often painstakingly. 

BRAC University is situated within a broader organizational framework of nation-wide social and community development and thus it is a nationally important institution. Hence it is the right place to begin an academic program that might inform policy and practice in the disaster management field, which is significant in the Bangladeshi national context. The linkage to BRAC - a very large organization with extensive infrastructure - which most other universities lack, is a great advantage for BRAC University. It allows benefiting from BRAC’s extensive community development and disaster management experience. Therefore, a postgraduate course on Disaster Management comprised of diploma and master’s degree programs is being proposed to be conducted at BRAC University. It will run as a semi-autonomous program within BRAC University with a link with the department of Architecture. The long-term view is to develop an institute with research and training facilities in disaster management. The postgraduate diploma is a 1-year program with the option of obtaining a master’s degree by completing a dissertation in an additional 1-2 semesters.

Objectives

This postgraduate course targeted for active professionals will allow contributing to this nationally significant practice-oriented field. Such a course to supplement profession-based education of graduates of various disciplines can also serve to further post-professional qualification and allow career development. Because this course is largely targeted for NGOs, it is relevant within the BRAC organizational framework. Running such a course within BRAC will allow forming an important bridge between education and practice. It can serve to provide training to BRAC staff members involved in disaster management and allow dissemination of research findings to the practical field via BRAC programs. The course staff can also provide technical support to BRAC’s disaster management programs. As a two way process, experienced BRAC personnel may serve as lecturers in the course. In addition, parts of the course might prove useful for students of different departments at BRAC University such as architecture, business administration, economics and social science. 

Prospective Target

The concept of this course arose principally from the demand expressed by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The course could satisfy the need for training staff members of national and international NGOs involved in disaster management in Bangladesh. Other possible sources of students could be government departments relating to health, environment, fire service, armed forces, etc. Over the long term, the course may attract students from other countries, particularly in the South Asian region.

Because the course will be multi-disciplinary in nature, students will be drawn from a broad range of disciplines that produce graduates working in the field of disaster management in various capacities and roles, including the social sciences, public administration, law, engineering, architecture, planning, geology, geography and meteorology. Additionally, as the course will be practice-oriented, in lieu of academic qualifications, professional and practical experience of prospective students might be taken into consideration for admission. This wide target group will be an important contributing factor towards the feasibility of the course. To begin with, a minimum of 10 students will make the course feasible. Given the national and social relevance of the course and its accessibility to graduates from a wide range of disciplines, recruiting this number of students should not prove difficult. 

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