Looking through the Lens of schools: Children perception, knowledge, and preparedness of flood disaster risk management in Pakistan

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Abstract

Schools serve as a hub for children to learn and involve in disaster mitigation activities and to connect with the community. The government of Pakistan has initiated different capacity building and safety training programs to increase the preparedness level among school children. However, the effectiveness of such capacity building training programs in disaster-prone areas is yet to be evaluated. In this perspective, this study examines the school children's perception, knowledge, and preparedness of flood disaster risk management in Pakistan. The analysis is based on a primary survey covering 20 primary schools across four severely flood-affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. By using a structured questionnaire, we collected data from 100 students of grade-5. Pearson's Chi-square test is used to determine the statistical significance of the differences in preparedness across districts. The findings show that, concerning perception, overall 40% of the total sample children believe that the flood disaster would destroy the houses of residents (including theirs), 39% said that it would damage the large buildings and 31% reported that persons near the river source are facing a higher risk. Regarding flood disaster risk-related knowledge, 68% of respondents experienced flood disasters between 2010 and 2014, and houses were flooded and damaged by 65% and 46% of the respondents, respectively. The findings further indicated that preparedness level is generally low in the study districts as 12% have a family emergency plan, however, only 5% practice emergency plans at the household level. In addition, only 18% of the schools show emergency exit, assembly areas, and places to meet or leave important messages in an emergency. Moreover, the study found that awareness and training programs are needed at the school level to increase knowledge and preparedness for future floods.

Introduction

The literature indicates that natural disasters have risen tremendously (in terms of frequency and severity) and have major effects on human well-being. These impacts not only rises current climatic shocks but also contribute to new risk sources [1]. Currently, disaster management activities primarily follow the top-down strategy, as all relief activities concentrate on adults rather than children. Children are generally recognized as one of the most susceptible groups to flood disasters. They account for about 50%–60% of those affected and are always the first victims of catastrophes including floods [2]. These floods cause serious damage to children in the shape of injuries, deaths, starvation, illness, and they may be ultimately forced to move away from friends or family. Every time a tragedy happens, many school children suffer and they do not return home in many situations [3]. Additionally, it also jeopardizes their safety and exposes them to mental stress, poverty, and in some cases interrupts their education [4]. For instance, Nepal had witnessed a devastating flood in 2008 in which 67 schools were affected and 23,000 children died [5]. Similarly, in the US, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 resulted in the closure of 1,100 schools, and 370,000 students were forced to drop out of schools [6]. The damage posed by these catastrophes to the education sector affected not only schools but also significantly affected the entire society [7].

In this research, hazards and disaster education for school children have been studied to help mitigate the impact of disasters [7]. Education has been considered one of the most powerful ways to prepare a society to deal with disasters [8]. The literature also demonstrates the importance of schools because they serve as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) hubs which links schools with society DRR education and other activities [9,10]. The inclusion of DRR education via schools is one way to disseminate disaster-mitigation related messages to each home in the community and develop the knowledge base for the generations to come [10]. Lopez et al. [11] suggest that children have the potential to play a significant role to play in the disaster management cycle. This ensures that children can use certain techniques at any level of the disaster management process. Children are efficient messengers for the transfer of information about catastrophes to their families, where the acceptability level for parents from their educated children is generally high in most cases [8].

Further, education is the key to minimizing the effects of natural disasters under the 2015–2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). Under the priority 3 for the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), Disaster Risk Reduction uses knowledge as well as education and innovation to create a safety culture and enhance resilience [12]. The SFDRR also recognizes children and youth as agents of change to whom the statute, educational curriculum, and national practices should offer room and means for contributing to the DRR [13]. Children's knowledge and attitudes towards disaster threats are often important as they help to define priority needs and how children's involvement can be ensured to minimize impacts and vulnerabilities in response to climate-induced disasters. Children's knowledge and attitudes promote common understanding, ownership, and self-confidence in DRR, which can be disseminated through awareness campaigns, past disaster events, and experience that instills advanced skills in children and equips them with relevant knowledge [14]. Similarly, disaster education and hazard initiatives at the school level not only help children understand the dynamic mechanisms associated with disasters [15] but also raise awareness,1 perception2 [16], and preparedness [17].

Pakistan has undergone a variety of significant disasters, including the devastating flood in 2010[[18], [19], [20], [21], [22]] that destroyed more than 10,000 educational institutions across the country. Of the total educational institutions, more than 9000 primary schools have suffered partial or complete damage. Because of the lack of coordination and poor evacuation efforts between the neighboring schools, students and teachers were among the most affected. The loss of life or injury may also be decreased through advanced preparedness and safety plans for disasters. Thus, the Pakistani government in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in particular, have implemented a range of capacities building and safety training programs to improve school children's preparedness levels. Such training is made mandatory for the children as well as teachers in disaster-prone areas of the province [21,58]. However, the effectiveness of such capacity building training programs among children in disaster-prone areas in disseminating DRR knowledge as well as its impact on the climate-induced disaster risks is yet to be evaluated. Moreover, the children's perspective is generally overlooked in the literature on disaster risk management. Children's perspective is important because they form a large proportion of disaster-affected populations. The lack of attention on children may partly be due to the common mistaken belief that the effect of catastrophes on children is insignificant and that their opinions are not mature enough to be acted upon [23]. Anderson [24] argues that research in social sciences has hindered research on children partly because of their social status, as children do not take a policy or occupational stance where they may see the need for such research. In addition, child needs are frequently exempted from preparedness for disasters and emergency response programs. This primarily stems from a child's lack of capacity to lift its concerns and the lack of specialized child development experience among most disaster practitioners [24]. Children can have constructive and innovative thoughts to help their families and communities to recover from catastrophes. Disasters damage children's natural environments such as homes, and schools, etc., where children work, study, or play. However, adults never ask children how they want to restore these areas. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate the voices of children in decision making, which will help to facilitate more inclusive community-based disaster recovery. Though there is a big difference, as Bartlett [25] points out, between "hearing" children and "listening" them to what they say. In this context, this study aims to assess the school children perception, knowledge, and preparedness of disaster risk management in Pakistan. The research questions which need to be answered are; 1) How children perceive flood disaster risk; 2) What is the level of children's awareness and knowledge regarding flood disaster risk; 3) What is the overall understanding of flood disaster preparedness among children.

Section snippets

Education system in Pakistan3

The Pre-primary grade is the entry-stage in Pakistan's education system (Fig. 1). The entry age for the pre-primary level is 3–4 years, as described in the 2009 National Education Policy (NEP).

The main protocols for the pre-primary level are to have a one-year curriculum, separate teachers to teach kids in a different space (separate room). However, these procedures are not being practiced in most public schools because of insufficient facilities. Thus, no formal pre-primary classes are taught

Disaster education in Pakistan

Disaster education primarily aims at providing all stakeholders with an understanding of the natural and cultural conditions and their interaction with the system of human use which stimulates change and triggers disasters. The priority-3 of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) advocates information management, training, research, and education [26]. It also emphasizes that providing easily comprehensible disaster-risk information particularly for people who live in areas of high risk, allows

Description of the study area

Pakistan has a geographical range between 23.35 and 37.50 north and 60.50–77.50 east (Fig. 3), covering a total area of 796,095 square kilometers and has a population of over 210 million. The frontier of Pakistan is with neighboring countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, China, and India. The country has a large coastline that provides access to the Arabian sea. Pakistan is divided by its vast geographic position into three major regions including the Indus River Plains to the east, the

Children flood disaster risk perception

The survey results in Fig. 5 show that 20% of the total sample respondents think the “flood disaster will hit their respective areas once again” (average values were higher in Nowshera (32%) and Charsadda (24%)). However, statistically, we didn't find any significant difference among the sampled districts children (P-value 0.212). 39% of the total sample respondents were of the view that "the flood disaster will cause serious damage to big buildings" and that figures were again higher in the

Discussion

Floods are one of the most frequent climatic disasters in developing countries like Pakistan. In Pakistan, floods usually occur during the monsoon season due to heavy monsoon rainfall [[18], [19], [20], [21], [22],31,32]. The Pakistani government has reported that these hydro-meteorological events of greater magnitude are likely to take place soon because of rapid changes in climate [38]. In addition to harming people, property, and infrastructures, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has

Conclusion and policy implications

The current research has shown the value of disaster education for children in schools to minimize the effect of disasters on communities, as education is one of the key factors that help to reduce vulnerability and improve resilience. Schools serve as a center for children to learn and participate in disaster reduction programs and to connect with the community through these programs. Pakistan has been seriously impacted by numerous climate-induced disasters, including the devastating 2010

Funding

This research is partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71971121, 71571104), NUIST-UoR International Research Institute, the Major Project Plan of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research in Jiangsu Universities (2018SJZDA038), the 2019 Jiangsu Province Policy Guidance Program (Soft Science Research) (BR2019064), the impact of Weather Conditions on the Spread of Large scale Influenza Virus (2020xtzx001), the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

We are extremely thankful to the Directorate of Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and school representatives, for their effective support and coordination in organizing and conducting successful interviews. Further, we would like to thank our survey team members for conducting interviews.

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