The Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday rolled out the Project Learning Institution Geohazard Tracking and Assessment for Safety Plus (LIGTAS+) to ensure the safety of learners and teachers against natural disasters.

Project LIGTAS+, an advanced risk intelligence platform, seeks to reduce disruption in learning and protect vulnerable families from calamities.

In a statement, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said the platform will help prevent families from “falling deeper” into poverty when disaster hits.

“Through Project LIGTAS+, we are fulfilling President Bongbong Marcos’ mandate to use innovation not just for safety, but for stability,” he said.

“We are moving away from guesswork and toward a future where data ensures that no child’s education is washed away by a storm,” he added.

Under Project LIGTAS+, there will be a real-time delivery of school-specific risk profiles using geospatial analytics, satellite imagery, and historical hazard data.

It also features an interactive multi-hazard map and flood intelligence powered by satellite SAR data, as well as earthquake impact assessments, volcanic activity monitoring, and AI-powered weather forecasts, which can provide outlook up to 10 days in advance.

This means that early warnings for extreme heat or landslides will be released before they reach critical levels, making schools a safer learning and working environment.

Project LIGTAS+ is designed to generate granular hazard views, enabling decision-makers to move beyond broad assumptions and toward more context-specific action.

The Project LIGTAS+, likewise, allows the agency to come up with alternatives to blanket class suspensions as the platform identifies which schools are at risk or safe to open in a particular locality.

The platform is now in its pilot implementation phase, which will help support disaster response and safety planning, as well as back reporting under the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service’s regular situational reports during disaster events. (PNA)