Flood Impacts on the Lives of School Children in Basse, (Upper River Region of The Gambia)

Abstract

Globally, floods threaten the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people, including school going children. Flood related hazards increases the vulnerability of certain schools due to poor quality construction or maintenance work. With the advent of climate change and climate variability, these hazards are likely to exacerbate the vulnerability of school children especially in the Sahel zone of West Africa. The low lying topographic nature of Basse exposes the town to seasonal flooding along the river bank. This study, therefore investigates the impacts of flood on the lives of school children in Basse. The study specifically assesses flood damages on the live support systems of school children, identifies problems faced by school-going children during floods and finally evaluates measures adopted by the civil and school authorities and other organized groups to help school children overcome their problems during floods. The study targeted three groups, namely school children, head teachers, and parents. School children made up the primary target group for the study in terms of absolute numbers. They were purposely selected from seven schools where head teachers / principals were also integrated into the second target group. A total of 255 school children in grades 4 to 12 were randomly selected from a population of 718 school children in the seven (7) schools involved in this research. Proportional sampling was used to select the sample size of 255 (138 from Kaba Kama, 117 from Basse Layout) based on 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error. Four Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) consisting seven (7) parents in each were held and Key Informants Interviews (KII) was conducted with professionals, who deal with floods victims directly in the community. Chi square analysis and descriptive statistics from statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) and Excel were mainly used in analyzing the data. The research established that none of the sampled schools was directly affected by floods, due to their location in a non-flood prone area. However, iv some school children have been severely affected by floods either at home or on the roads, to and from schools. The residences of Kaba Kama, Basse-Layout and Kerewan Badala are mostly affected by floods. Findings revealed that practically, all the live support systems of school-going children living in Kaba kama, and Basse-Layout are moderately to severely affected by floods. The chi square test analysis confirmed only the food system and stationery loss show a significance variation between the two neighbourhoods. This will inadvertently cause low syllabus coverage and poor performance in examinations. Finally, both civil society groups and school authorities have taken measures in helping students to overcome the problems induced by floods. Unfortunately, most of their efforts are thwarted by political interferences, lack of resources and the prerequisite skills necessary to handle flood induced problems. The uncertainty of climate change phenomenon and lack of understanding of the hydrological activities complicated the issues further. Most flood-related morbidity and mortality are preventable through education, good floodplain management, and early warning systems. These make it a sine qua non to integrate climate change related hazards like riverine floods into the national school curriculum. The findings will further contribute to shape and reform public policies relevant to intellectual development, and societal resilience to adverse effects of climate change.