Now-a-days and in few recent
years, Flood disasters in Pakistan have become a major problem especially in
Punjab being a land of rivers and specific (monsoon) climate mood. It is not
just giving a tough time to the people living in disaster prone areas but also
has a holistic impact on whole Pakistan. Because it involves all aspects of
society as loss of lives, agricultural damages, black deaths, Infrastructure
destruction, educational delays, medical emergency, army diversion and political
upheaval.
Since the massive flooding of July/August 2010, every year Pakistan’s economy is
consistently threatened by all these disastrous impacts of heavy floods. So,
somehow it has become a hallmark and there is a Question mark about coming
future of Pakistan. Government's already weak fiscal position is expected to
come under considerable strain in order to meet a large proportion of relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction cost.
Because Pakistan is a developing country and its economy is not much stable or
suitable to afford all that fuss. Thus, Government must change its policy like
China, Japan and other high disaster prone countries and focuses on local level
pre-disaster preparedness rather than disaster mitigation and reconstruction.
Although it is impossible to avoid natural disasters but can be minimized and
reduced their cost and damages as according to Muttarak (2012), the
‘’effectiveness of local emergency warning systems is critical to mitigate
disaster impacts and being prepared for a major disaster is the most effective
way to minimize the damages suffered by the affected population’’.
In this context, Education can play a vital role because it’s the only social
institution which exists or access to, formally or informally almost in all
regions/communities of even developing countries like Pakistan.
Government should provide the financial support to education department for the
awareness programs and flood preparedness projects. Education department should
be recognizing the training programs and awareness programs related to disaster
preparedness at least 2 or 3 times a year. Government should provide hazard
mapping for school, and knowledge and skills assessment on emergency disaster
preparedness plan that may be beneficial.
At Informal level, should include awareness of information and skills of coping
with natural disasters in disaster prone areas, i.e., indigenous knowledge,
training programs, pamphlets, and awareness campaigns. This type of preparedness
is sustainable being long life learning’s, quite practical and less expensive
.In spite of it, its suitable to our developing economy and limited budget,
there are fewer research and work in Pakistan comparatively to other countries.
When, we (P.U students) conduct a study which is contended to explore the role
of education in flood disaster preparedness. Conduct a survey of residents of
flood prone homes in villages from different Districts of Punjab, a province
that has conventionally been subject to major and minor events of flood. The
study largely support that the People with higher educational background are
better able to protect themselves during flood devastations cause of better
critical thinking and better economic conditions. Similarly learning through
ancestral experiences of people regarding flood also helps greatly to keep
themselves safe. Also concluded that people living in villages are aware of
flood disaster but are not educated enough to help themselves in mitigating
flood devastations. The schools in villages have failed to deliver proper
awareness regarding flood preparedness.
Flood disaster preparedness is an important issue and education can play a
significant role. The findings of the study reveal that an ample number of
people have benefited from their formal, informal education or ancestors’ flood
experiences to deal with flood devastations. However, the fact is of
considerable importance that both formal and informal education must be
integrated for flood management in a better way.