Prudential Indonesia, Prudence Foundation, and Plan Indonesia Support 10,000 Students and Teachers in Bali to Increase Awareness and Preparedness for Disaster Risk Through Safe Schools Program
28 August 2024
Denpasar, August 29, 2024 – In order to improve the preparedness and protection of education, education personnel, and students against the threat of disasters, PT Prudential Life Assurance (Prudential Indonesia) together with the Prudence Foundation in collaboration with Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia) launched the Disaster Safe Education Unit (SPAB) Model Province program or Comprehensive School Safety (CSS) in Bali Province. This program has been running from April 2024 to August 2025 in Bali, with a mission to educate 100 schools at the SMA / SMK / SLB level and 10,000 students regarding disaster mitigation, especially those caused by natural threats and climate change, non-natural, social and violence.
In its implementation, this program will focus on several areas, such as strengthening the capacity of the Bali SPAB Joint Secretariat (SEKBER) to encourage the role of multi-stakeholders in disaster risk reduction, developing SPAB model provincial indicators to be replicated by other provinces, and strengthening the meaningful involvement of young people in SPAB implementation and monitoring. In addition, the program also launched a Comprehensive SPAB Module that aims to encourage the capacity building of schools in Indonesia to become Resilient Schools, while preparing education units including students and teachers in facing various disaster risks, both due to natural threats including climate, non-natural, social and violence.
Dewi Satriani, Human Resource & Community Investment Officer, Prudential Indonesia, said, “School is a vital place to prepare a generation that is ready to face various challenges in the future. Prudential Indonesia always supports the government’s efforts to train educators and students in dealing with disaster risks, both natural and non-natural. This collaboration is a form of our commitment to be a trusted partner and protector for current and future generations, by providing easily accessible financial and health protection solutions, including carrying out Social Responsibility programs in supporting safety and security in educational environments for a prosperous and developed society.
Based on data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (MoECT), as of September 2023, 62,000 schools and more than 12 million students have been affected by disasters in Indonesia. Although schools are supposed to be safe havens, they are in fact vulnerable environments that pose risks to the safety and security of students. In 2019, the Ministry also noted that 52,902 schools were located in earthquake-prone areas, 54,080 in flood-prone areas, and 15,597 in landslide-prone areas in Indonesia.”
Regional Secretary of Bali Province Dewa Made Indra, who attended the launch of the SPAB Model Province program today, explained that Bali province is one of the disaster-prone areas in Indonesia, and almost all schools in Bali province are located in disaster-prone areas. Around 1,200 disaster events caused by natural threats occurred throughout 2023. This figure increased by 1.79% compared to the previous year.
“The implementation of SPAB will be very helpful in supporting the safety of students and teachers, and reducing the risk of disaster losses. We appreciate the steps from Prudential Indonesia and Plan Indonesia, and also support the implementation of SPAB, so that schools can prepare themselves through increasing awareness and preparedness for potential disasters and developing effective emergency response plans to overcome emergency situations quickly and appropriately,” said Mahendra.
Jamjam Muzaki, Expert of the SPAB National Secretariat of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, said that there are still very few education units, especially in disaster-prone areas, that implement SPAB. The Disaster Risk Index identifies at least 70% of education units in Indonesia are in disaster-prone areas. However, until the end of 2020, only 5% of education units have implemented SPAB.
“Awareness-raising efforts, adequate resource allocation, and strong collaboration between all relevant parties are key in overcoming this challenge and making SPAB implementation effective in protecting learners and the education community from disaster threats in Indonesia. We hope that the strengthening of the Bali SPAB Joint Secretariat can later become a forum for mapping education units in Bali Province and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of SPAB,” said Jamjam.
Dini Widiastuti, Executive Director of Plan Indonesia, “As an organization that focuses on children and young people, we believe that collaboration with children and young people is one of the keys to implementing SPAB. From them, various innovations in disaster preparedness efforts will be born that can be replicated to other schools in Indonesia. Maybe even not only in Indonesia, but abroad considering that Bali is the gateway to promoting Indonesian tourism to the international world,” he said.
Nicole Ngeow, Director of the Prudence Foundation welcomed the collaboration between Prudential Indonesia and Plan Indonesia which invites other communities to contribute to efforts to increase awareness of disaster risk mitigation. She said that active participation from various parties is needed to increase public awareness of disaster risks, as well as appropriate mitigation measures to protect schools, students and teachers.
Through supporting the implementation of this Comprehensive SPAB, Prudence Foundation hopes to help create sustainable change in disaster risk mitigation in the education sector, through collaboration and joint action. This commitment to strengthen disaster mitigation is also in line with Prudence Foundation’s commitment to protect children and young people from disasters by building community resilience to disaster risk.
This program is a continued collaboration between Prudential Indonesia and Plan Indonesia. From October 2022 to March 2024, Prudential Indonesia together with the Prudence Foundation also supported Plan Indonesia in the launch and implementation of the Comprehensive SPAB module in Yogyakarta by involving 133 schools and 21,922 participants consisting of students and teaching staff.
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About Prudential Indonesia
PT Prudential Life Assurance (Prudential Indonesia) was established in 1995 and is part of Prudential plc, which provides life and health insurance and asset management, with a focus on Asia and Africa. By combining Prudential’s international experience in life insurance with knowledge of local business practices, Prudential Indonesia is committed to growing its business in Indonesia.
Prudential Indonesia has been a market leader in investment-linked products for more than 20 years. As of December 31, 2022, Prudential Indonesia has its head office in Jakarta with 6 marketing offices in Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Denpasar, Medan, and Batam as well as 356 Mandiri Marketing Offices (KPM) throughout Indonesia. By the end of 2022, Prudential Indonesia will be supported by more than 150,000 licensed marketers. Prudential Indonesia is licensed and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK).
About Prudence Foundation
Prudence Foundation is the community investment arm of Prudential plc in Asia and Africa. Its mission is to create a better future for people by making them safer and more resilient in the face of life’s risks. Prudence Foundation runs regional as well as local programs in partnership with NGOs, governments and the private sector to maximize impact. Prudence Foundation leverages Prudential’s long-term mindset and geographic scale to make communities safer, more secure and more resilient. Prudence Foundation is a registered charity in Hong Kong. For more information, please visit: www.prudencefoundation.com
About Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia)
Plan International has been working in Indonesia since 1969 and officially became Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia) in 2017. We work to fight for the fulfillment of children’s rights and equality for girls. Plan Indonesia implements its activities through four programs, namely Child Protection and Growth and Development, Adolescent Health and Agency, Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, and Disaster Preparedness and Humanitarian Response. We work in 7 provinces, including East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, and West Java, with a target to empower 1 million girls. In addition, Plan Indonesia also mentors 36 thousand girls and boys in East Nusa Tenggara. For more information: plan-international.or.id
For more information:
Corporate Communications Prudential Indonesia
PT Prudential Life Assurance
Email: [email protected]
Prudential Centre – Kota Kasablanka 17th Floor
Jl. Kasablanka, kav. 88, Jakarta Selatan 12870, Indonesia
Hesti Widianingtyas
External Communication Coordinator Plan Indonesia
