Disasters and the education system: Cyclone Idai and schooling disruption in eastern Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article examined how the education system was impacted by the Cyclone ldai disaster in eastern Chimanimani District in 2019. In addition, this article discoursed the enrolment trends, pass rate patterns and general quality of education over the 2018–2019 study period. It assessed local and stakeholders’ initiatives towards building a disaster-resilient education system. A mixed-methods approach integrated both quantitative and qualitative techniques to obtain in-depth narratives of lived experiences and quantitative aspects. A chi-square test provided sufficient ground to conclude that there were significant dropout patterns at a 95% confidence level. A paired t-test for the years 2018 (M = 64.59; SD = 12.61) and 2019 (M = 62; SD = 15.32) showed no significant difference (t [11] = 0.817, p = 0.432) at a 95% confidence interval. Concerted efforts are needed to avert the native pattern of school enrolment and academic results reflected in the study.

Contribution: We therefore recommend that a holistic integrative disaster resilience framework between school, community and stakeholders showed great potential for the future.