Knowledge of Disaster Risk Reduction among the Master’s Students of Social Science School in Khulna University.

This study tried to understand the knowledge of DRR among the masters students of social science schools of Khulna University.

Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. In Bangladesh, natural catastrophes have caused a large number of deaths and the destruction of public and private property. In this context, quite a few awareness and training programs for disaster risk reduction (DRR) have already been initiated in Bangladesh and their impact assessments are also already documented. However, the effectiveness of the various implemented DRR programs in public universities is not much evaluated through an independent study. The purpose of the study was to find out the level of Knowledge of Disaster Risk Reduction among the Masters Students of Social Science School in Khulna University and its determinants. Randomly 111 students were selected from the sampling frame, and a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using univariate (frequency and percentage), bi-variate (t-test) and multi-variate analyses (ANOVA and ordinary least square [OLS]). Findings from t-test and ANOVA indicated that sex, living arrangement, occupation of father, knowledge of disaster plans, disaster drills, and academic courses had a significant difference in terms of disaster-related knowledge and disaster-related practice. In addition, OLS also showed that knowledge of disaster plans, disaster drills, and academic courses have an influence on disaster risk reduction knowledge. The study also found economic conditions and personal experience predict disaster knowledge levels as well. The results of the questionnaire survey revealed a few gaps in the dissemination of DRR knowledge among students. We hope that these findings will encourage authorities to work on DRR issues in universities and modify student- targeted programs.

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