The Department of Education (DepEd) has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman to address persistent gaps faced by schools in disaster-prone areas, particularly the lack of localized hazard data, structured training, and coordinated emergency protocols, which often leaves teachers and learners vulnerable during floods, earthquakes, and other calamities.

Under the agreement, UP will provide technical and scientific expertise to support DepEd’s disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and emergency response efforts across public schools nationwide.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the partnership aims to ensure that schools are better prepared before disasters strike, so learning disruptions are minimized.

As an immediate step of the partnership, DepEd is encouraging DRRM coordinators nationwide to enroll in the relaunched Fundamentals of Resilience Massive Open Online Courses offered by the UP Resilience Institute in partnership with UP Open University. The free, fully online courses will run from 26 January to 20 Februaryǰ 2026, and will cover the basics of resilience as well as hazard and risk assessment.

UP President Angelo Jimenez said the collaboration underscores the role of UP, as the national university, in protecting learners and teachers, especially as climate-related risks intensify.

The partnership will be implemented through the UPRI, led by Executive Director Mahar Lagmay, which will support DepEd in conducting multi-hazard risk assessments, developing localized hazard maps, integrating disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation modules into learning platforms, and designing a digital hazard risk platform and monitoring systems.