‘EFFECTIVENESS OF A DISASTER MANAGEMENT EDUCATION PROGRAMME TO ENHANCE THE AWARENESS ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF KERALA’

Abstract

India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural as well as manmade disasters. Schools are the best place in disseminating the awareness on disaster management. The vision of Disaster Management Act 2005 is ‘to build safe and disaster resilient India’ by promoting a culture of prevention and mitigation in the minds of people. Kerala has experienced various kinds of disasters in the past years. Tsunami hit the South Indian states on 26, December 2004 and in Kerala alone about 171 people died. It is reported that 14.2 % of Kerala is vulnerable to flood. The great flood of ’99 (July 1924), the repeated flood of 2018 and 2019 and also the other types of disasters show the importance of disaster management among the people. The present study is a humble attempt in disaster management education. The Major Objectives of the Study were 1. To Develop a Disaster Management Education Programme to enhance the Awareness on Disaster Management among Secondary School Students of Kerala. 2. To find out the effectiveness of the developed programme on Disaster Management Education. Independent variable of the study was ‘Disaster management Education Programme’and Dependent variable was ‘Awareness on Disaster Management among Secondary School Students’. For this study Single group pre-test-experiment- post-test –retention test design was used. Both survey and experimental methods were used. The survey was conducted among 532 secondary school students from 14 districts of Kerala. The experimental sample consisted of 68 students of 8th standard from two schools of Kozhikode district. Tools used for the study were 1. Disaster Management Awareness Test( Udayasree&Rekha ,2017). 2. Disaster Management Education Programme (Udayasree&Rekha ,2017). 3. Lesson transcripts for transacting Disaster Management Education Programme. The focus of the study was to develop a Disaster Management Education programme for secondary school students. The programme is designed with three units. The first unit of the programme gives importance to basic concepts of disaster management. This includes the classification of Disasters, Disaster Management phases, Disaster Management Cycle, Disaster Management Act, various authorities and agencies involved in disaster management. The second unit of the programme provides detailed description on natural disasters and its management. The third unit of the programme includes manmade disasters and its management. Disaster management includes a cyclic process. The cycle includes three phases; pre-disaster, during disaster and post-disaster. Each disaster in the programme is presented by giving an introduction first, then definition, reasons, consequences and its management. Introduction is given in the form of presenting a local incident of the disaster. The complete programme ends with a conclusion highlighting the social commitment of the individual. Statistical Techniques used for the Study were Preliminary analysis, Test of significance of difference between means (t-test), Cohen’s d for calculating the effect size. Major findings of the study were 1. There exists significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of awareness on Disaster Management in total and its components for the whole sample, subsample boys, girls, urban students, and coastal students, 2. There is no significant difference between the post-test and retention test mean scores of awareness on Disaster Management in total by urban students . 3. There is no significant difference between the post-test and retention test mean scores of awareness on Basic knowledge in whole sample, boys, girls and coastal students 4. There is no significant difference between the post-test and retention test mean scores of Awareness on natural disasters by whole sample and boys 5. There is no significant difference between the post-test and retention test mean scores of Awareness on manmade disasters by whole sample, boys, girls and urban students 6. There is no significant difference between the post-test and retention test mean scores of Awareness on management of manmade disasters by all samples. 7. There is significant difference between the post-test and retention test mean scores of Awareness on management of natural disasters by all samples 8. The developed programme was found very effective in enhancing disaster management awareness in secondary school students. The results of the present study has various implications in the educational field Findings showed that Disaster Management Education is very essential among students. As our country is vulnerable to all types of disasters- natural and manmade- disaster management is to be considered as a major priority area in our curriculum. Knowledge is to be pooled by incorporating the expertise of all strata of people while restructuring curriculum with the concept of disaster management. Mock Drills, First aid training and swimming are to be given to students. Teachers are to be trained through In- service courses to make the student generation aware of Disaster management. Separate packages on Disaster management to be prepared for all people like the other nations. Talks, Awareness classes, campaigns.... to be conducted to all people. Knowledge in disaster management will surely help the students to become better planners and professionals in their future life. The study in this particular situation is a warning signal for the actual transformation of an individual in accordance with the nature. Key terms: Effectiveness, Disaster, Disaster management, Disaster Management Education Programme, Awareness, Secondary School Students of Kerala