Situational Handling and Emergency Preparedness in Schools: A Study of Students’ Perceptions and Readiness

Abstract

Natural hazards pose significant threats to human societies, impacting lives, infrastructure, and economies worldwide. These hazards, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, have intensified in frequency and severity due to climate change and environmental degradation. The ability to effectively handle such situations is crucial, especially for vulnerable populations such as school students, who may lack the experience and resources to respond adequately.  The study aimed at “Situational Handling and Emergency Preparedness in Schools: A Study of Students’ Perceptions and Readiness”. The objectives of the study were, 1) To investigate the current status of disaster management training during earthquake at school level. 2) To measure the attitude of school employees towards the need of disaster management training during earthquake at school level. 3) To measure the attitude of students towards the need of disaster management training during earthquake at school level. The population for this research comprised employees working in higher secondary schools in the Rawalpindi/Islamabad area who are involved in disaster management, including both trained and untrained personnel, for the academic year 2023–2025. In the study, the sample size was expanded to increase the robustness and generalizability of the findings. The total population remained the same, comprising 1,480 students and 300 teachers. The sample included 148 students and 30 teachers, with a total sample size of 178 participants. Similar to the pilot study, the final study also achieved a 100% response rate. Since the findings indicate a lack of confidence and engagement in disaster preparedness, with 100% opposing mandatory training, 90% finding sessions unengaging, and 67% perceiving no collaboration with local emergency services, hence it is recommended that schools redesign disaster training programs to be interactive, engaging, and compulsory while fostering partnerships with emergency response agencies to improve preparedness efforts.