| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which students, teachers and school
principals are prepared to handle flood disasters in their institutions and specifically in Bunyala
district in Kenya. The country experiences floods at the lower River Tana, the areas around the
shores of Lake Victoria and the lower River Nzoia. The study concentrated mainly in Bunyala
district in Busia County and particularly Budalangi division where schools in the south of the
region are worst affected. The region is affected by both flash floods and river floods which are
caused by heavy rainfall experienced in Cherengani hills and Mt Elgon.
The study found that when floods occur, classrooms, dormitories, toilets and playgrounds are
severely flooded leading to closure of the schools. The consequence of this action leads to
students missing school and therefore smooth learning is disrupted. In addition, text books,
school documents, furniture and other equipment are destroyed making learning difficult for
some while. The study also found out that local communities sometimes seek shelter in the
schools which are situated in areas of high ground( thus not affected by floods) resulting to
disrupting the schools’ learning programmes. The impact of the floods also affect infrastructure
since the roads become damaged or are impassable thus prohibiting movement of both students
and teachers from accessing schools from their respective homesteads.
There is need to train teachers on flood disaster preparedness so that they can in turn teach the
students and this will result to minimized destruction by floods. Disaster preparedness also
needs to be integrated in the school curricula as this will enable students to become better
equipped with the necessary knowledge to handle flood disaster. The study also found out that
major challenges for example lack of capacity to limit the impact of the disaster and little
emphasis in implementing flood drills in schools largely due to lack of resources have tended
to affect the management of floods disaster in schools in Bunyala. It also emerged that poor
early warning systems and inadequate flood disaster planning in Bunyala district continue to
affect how flood disaster preparedness is attained.
This study targeted Principals, teachers and students in Public secondary school in Bunyala
district. The study Sought to find out the preparedness of Principals and teachers towards
floods, how the preparedness of students towards floods affects learning, the mitigation
measures in place to respond to floods and challenges faced in disaster preparedness.A total of
7 secondary schools participated in the study. The samples that were studied were 7 Principals,
76 teachers, 328 students and 1 D.E.O. The methods used to collect the data were
questionnaires, interview and focus group discussion. Analysis of data was done, using
statistical package for social sciences (SPPS). Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and
percentages were used to summarize the data.
Research findings revealed that 5 out of 7 schools were affected by floods directly when
facilities are flooded or indirectly where schools’ premises are used as shelter by the
community when their homesteads are flooded. The findings also revealed that learning was
severely disrupted by such actions. The study has suggested the need to train principals,
teachers and students on disaster preparedness and further recommended that KIE adopts
disaster preparedness programmes in the school curriculum. The research also raises
suggestions for further studies to cover the influence of early warning on disaster mitigation in
public schools and disaster training of the school management in curbing disasters. | en |
