No abstract

A key imperative of Botswana’s adherence to international, regional and local policy on disaster risk reduction (DRR) relates to creating awareness and an understanding of disaster risk. One avenue of creating an understanding of risk is vested in the integration of DRR into primary school curriculums. Botswana has been slow to adhere to the above-mentioned policy imperatives. This paper argues that the slow pace of integration has been driven by a combination of a lack of clarity on the most appropriate teaching methodology through which to deliver information to young students on a topic as complex as DRR, as well as a general lack of policy and resource support from national government. These assertions are tested in a mixed-method research design that included questionnaires, document reviews and interviews. Questionnaires were administered to 30 teachers drawn from six primary schools in Gaborone, as well as in-depth interviews with two key informants drawn from the Curriculum Development Unit and National Disaster Management Office. The study finds that the experiential learning (EL) method provides an appropriate method by which DRR knowledge can be conveyed within the existing curriculum, as many teachers who have taken the innovative step of integrating DRR into their existing subjects are already implementing key components associated with the EL model. It is also established that although EL provides many potential benefits for an integrated DRR curriculum, the lack of clear policy direction and lack of various supporting resources are preventing the method benefits from being realised for Botswana primary schools.

Within academia there is ongoing discussion over what constitutes natural disaster or what does not. Floods, which in recent years have taken the world by surprise, come into the discussion too. While that is the case, its impact on education systems is least discussed, if ever, yet literature acknowledges floods as one of the most devastating disasters ever recorded in human history. This Chapter, while attempting to examine the impact flooding has on education systems in Africa, it also explores whether flood sits well in the category of natural disaster. Furthermore, the writers also critically examine and interrogates adequacy of states responses to prevent flooding affecting education systems. The Chapter further explores whether flooding and its related impact on the education system is a disaster risk governance failure.