GIS Based Suitable Site Selection and Road-map Preparation for Equitable Distribution of Secondary Schools of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to select suitable sites for high school construction and prepare 10 years Road-map plan for the equitable distribution of secondary schools in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The school site selection analysis is done by Multi-Criteria Analysis Method (MCAM) using Arc GIS software and GIS models. Three models: Restriction Model, Suitability Model and Integrated Suitable Sites Model were developed. First, Restriction Model was developed to identify areas excluded from suitability site analysis. Constraints or restrictions considered in this study includes: the area covered by roads, 150-meter noise level buffer along roads, 5-kilometer radius area around existing high schools, ecologically sensitive areas (parks and conservation areas), lakes and dams, and gorges of major rivers. Having Restriction Model results, Suitability Model was developed to identify suitable areas for high school construction. The major criteria used were: number of students in each school and their spatial distribution, slope, access to road, power access, drinking water access and telecommunication access. Finally, the integrated suitable sites model was developed to combine the restricted areas and suitable areas. The combination gives the final suitable sites for construction of new high schools. The finding of high school suitability sites of Amhara Region indicated that 235,903.67ha (2.1%), 2,551,599.57ha (22.3%), 7,518,477.63ha (65.8), 1,127,206.72ha (9.9%) of the areas of the Region were least suitable, marginally suitable, moderately suitable and highly suitable respectively. Finally, prioritization was done by clustering the primary schools according to the number of students, nearness to each other and considering geographical barriers. In general, about 902 school sites were selected and prioritized for the construction of new high schools in the coming 10 years. In connection, a 10-year road-map plan was prepared so as to achieve a reasonable high school coverage in Amhara region.

Keywords: Geographic Information System (GIS); Multi-criteria Evaluation Technique; Restriction Model; Suitability Model.