Flood preparedness strategies and instructional continuity in public senior secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

Flooding disrupts schooling in Rivers State, Nigeria. Studies examine damage to buildings and learners, academic achievement, and teachers' efforts to sustain teaching, but few have tested whether preparedness actions relate statistically to instructional continuity. This study examined how early warning, emergency planning and stakeholder partnership relate to instructional continuity in public senior secondary schools. Systems Theory, propounded by Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn, views a school as an open system dependent on its environment. A correlational survey design was used. The population was 7,088 comprising 367 principals, 734 vice principals, 5,676 teaching staff and 311 School-Based Management Committee members. Principals were covered by census because their number was manageable, while other groups were sampled proportionately across local government areas as strata, because flood exposure differs among them, using Taro Yamane's formula at a 5% margin of error, giving 1,175 respondents. Two questionnaires were validated by three experts and checked with Cronbach's alpha. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation at the 0.05 level. Early warning had a moderate positive and significant relationship with instructional continuity (r = .462, p < .001). Emergency planning had a weak relationship (r = .391, p < .001), and stakeholder partnership a moderate one (r = .408, p < .001). All three null hypotheses were rejected. Flood preparedness strategies are linked to instructional continuity in Rivers State. The Rivers State Ministry should make early warning and stakeholder partnership part of school planning.