Effectiveness of Disaster-Based School Program on Students’ Earthquake-Preparedness

Abstract

Given the importance of public disaster education, efforts have been made to integrate disaster risk reduction in the school system. Studies focusing on the effects of school disaster programs on actual preparedness and factors influencing preparedness behaviour, however, have been limited. The present study assesses the effectiveness of disaster risk education (DRR) in schools by comparing students in two junior high schools regarding action taken in earthquake preparedness and major factors of disaster preparedness such as risk knowledge, risk perception, critical awareness and attitude. Data on earthquake preparedness and other variables were collected from two junior high schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Participants were 124 students froma school adopting disaster risk reduction education and 115 students from a school not adopting it. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed that there was a significant difference in investigated variables among students although their level of actual preparedness was quite low. This study provided evidence that having a school adopting disaster risk reduction issues effectively enhanced knowledge, risk perception, critical awareness and attitude but limited in preparedness behaviour. Efforts should be taken by policy makers, teachers, and other stakeholders to develop public education in schools focusing on changes in preparedness behaviour.