The Impact of Climate-Induced Migration on Educational Attainment Among Youths in the North Bank Region (NBR) of The Gambia

Abstract

The North Bank Region is an agricultural region of The Gambia grappling with climate change-induced migration. This study examines the impact on the people, vis a vis youth educational attainment and migration. With primary and secondary data, The Mann–Kendall trend test and Sen’s slope estimator were applied to evaluate the trend and magnitude of the climatic variables obtained from the Department of Water Resources. Household data were collected using a structured questionnaire to assess the impact of climate change on the youths, especially their educational attainment. Secondary data on school enrolment and completion rates of the region were collected from the education ministry to ascertain the trend of education from 2011 to 2021. Furthermore, the impact of climate extreme events from the questionnaire was analyzed. Finally, the effect of migration on educational attainment was assessed. The findings demonstrated that climate change has posed a burden on the people, through increased windstorms, increased rainfall, drought, and flood, which has led to crop and property damage, erosion and loss of lives among others. Irrespective of the low level of educational attainment of the area the majority of the inhabitants are conscious of the changing climate. However, only a few understand what climate change is, this is important in helping young people to appreciate and tackle the consequences of global warming. Climate change was found to impact school dropout, interruption in schooling and a reduction in the schooling years for the youths.

Keywords

• Climate Change
• The Gambia
• Migration
• North Bank Division
• Education

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