A cross-cultural study of students’ awareness of natural disasters: voices from KSA, Yemen and Egypt

In recent years, there has been a remarkable increase in the intensity and frequency of natural disasters.There is no doubt that a thorough knowledge of natural disasters and an adequate awareness of how to protect against their negative consequences will spare many individuals considerable losses. Accordingly, the present study aims to investigate students’ level of awareness of natural disasters within a cross-cultural perspective. Twelve schools in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen were selected (four schools from each country). The total research sample consisted of 180 sixth and ninth grade students randomly selected from the targeted schools, with 60 students from each country. Semi-structured interviews were implemented. The results indicate that the majority of students in these three countries have a false or complete lack of perception of the phenomena of earthquakes and volcanoes. Only 20.6% of students in these three countries had a completely correct perception of how earthquakes occur.  An analysis of students’ drawings of this phenomenon revealed that, on average,only 13.3% were able to clarify the scientific reason for earthquakes; the highest percentage of correct answers came from the students of the Arab Republic of Egypt (15.0%), followed by Saudi students (13.3%) and then Yemeni students (11.7%). Furthermore, it was found that the religious understanding, culture and day-to-day experiences of thelearners in these countries influence their cognizance and analysis of natural events, and that they develop intricate understanding and theories based on their beliefs and experiences.