Filipino high school students develop school emergency management platform

MANILA, Philippines – Three junior high school students from the Philippine Science High School-Caraga have developed an online platform designed to help schools track students during fires, earthquakes, and other emergencies within the school. Called Ligtas Skwela, the platform is accessible online, allowing teachers and school administrators an overview of classrooms and students during an emergency. The project won first place in the student category of the Startup Technology Pitching Competition during the Department of Science and Technology’s Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week in Caraga, held from August 27 to 29. The team consists of project leader Kush Shekar, software developer Lorenzo Pariñas, and market research head Vic Andrei Hernando. Pariñas said recent school emergencies, including the shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, prompted the students to think about how schools account for students during a crisis. “We’ve noticed that sometimes, in the system, they tend to not focus on the students and where they are in school,” Pariñas said. Ligtas Skwela has two interfaces: Teacher Mode and Commander Mode. Teachers can use the platform to report the condition of their classes, while Commander Mode provides administrators with information on classrooms, teachers, and their status, including whether a room is secure or whether people need medical assistance. Instead of relying only on head counts, the system tracks students by name, allowing administrators to determine who is missing, Shekar said. The developers said the website is functional but has so far only been tested on their campus. The current version requires an internet connection, although the team plans to develop an offline version. They also plan to incorporate physical hardware, including buttons that could be used to conduct drills and trigger alarms. The students envision offering Ligtas Skwela through a subscription model. Based on their current projections, it would cost P30,000 annually for a school with 1,000 students, or about P30 per student. The team, mentored by engineer Lyndon Bermoy, was the only high school group among the nine finalists in the competition. The students are also preparing to apply for a patent for the platform. – Rappler.com