Poor Air Quality is Holding Students Back: What Can We Do?

Air pollution is increasing, and so are health threats to children. Institutions remain idle, but schools have the power to act. Discover how technology can help schools protect the health of their students and teachers, making them more attractive to local communities.

Over 300 million children breathe toxic air in conditions that surpass international limits six-fold. We understand the risk that air pollution poses on children’s health, but does it affect their learning capabilities?

Air quality has long been linked to productivity, having a huge impact on both cognitive and physical performance. But the majority of reporting on this issue focuses on adult productivity levels. But as air pollution affects children so heavily, more and more researchers are studying the link between the effects of air pollution on children’s learning and development.

The situation is getting worse and worse. Let's look at what is happening in India. Or in Hanoi where there is even a proposal to close schools when pollution rates are too high. And in the UK it's not much better, as a study reveals: 9 in 10 schools exceed three WHO targets – and all breach at least one of them.

Why Are Children and young students are more Susceptible to Air Pollution?

A child’s airway lining is not only more permeable but also smaller. This, combined with the fact that children breathe twice as fast (ingesting a larger amount of air proportion to their body weight), may be deadly if they develop infections.

Childhood is a period of immense growth. New cells that form each day could be thwarted from good development as a result of air pollution and when these cells multiply, the problem exacerbates. Chronic illness may easily arise from this, unavoidably impacting their quality of life now and in the future.

So air pollution could be physically lethal.

How Does Air Pollution Affect Children’s Learning?

But there's more, on the menthal side.

There is mounting evidence to suggest that the effects of air pollution on children’s health is impacting their studies. At a time when learning is so crucial to development, air pollution could be the hindrance that holds children back from achieving their best.

Some studies include:

• Researchers found that test scores decline when students take tests on days when the air pollution is high.

• Another study found that there were correlations between a school with increased levels of air pollution from being downwind to a motorway to lower test scores and higher absences.

• An economist at a London university collected particulate matter in exam rooms and found that students performed worse in exam rooms that had higher levels of air pollution.

• Researchers in London found that indoor air quality in classrooms was worse than outdoor air quality.

Students spend half of their day indoors. They and their guardians should be able to trust that they’re not being exposed to harmful pollutants while in a seemingly safe environment. However, the evidence suggests otherwise, and is causing their development to suffer.

While reduction in outdoor air pollutants is needed to keep children safe, it seems there should also be equal focus on indoor exposure and how this can be reduced.

What about teachers and schools' business continuity?

Nobody pays attention to them, but like students, staff may experience health problems such as headaches, fatigue, or more severe conditions. This can lead to increased days off and higher sick leave costs.

This presents a real challenge for schools' business continuity and can negatively impact brand reputation.

In the end, the safer the school, the happier the children and parents, and the better the institution's competitiveness.

Who, between two schools providing excellent educational services, wouldn't prefer the one that invests in students' physical and mental health?"

Creating Classrooms With Clean Air

“Protecting children from air pollution requires actions to reduce air pollution, reduce children’s exposure to it and better monitor it.”

Unicef

We believe that children and students deserve to live in a world where the air they’re breathing won’t affect their health or their future selves. Action is needed now to give today’s children the best environment to become the best they can be.

So, what are the solutions?

From poor and dusty ventilation systems to mould build-up, many schools around the country are in need of TLC. But upgrading ageing schools is costly, with projects ranging from £300-£500k. And that migh not be enough, as the smallest particle don't respond to ventilation and nor ventilation is totally effective on viruses and bacteria.

A cost-effective way to reduce indoor air pollution in schools is plug-in air purification systems like Pure Air Zone. Becoming a Pure Air School involves installing U-Earth’s suite of nature-based air purifiers and monitors that continuously detect and destroy air pollutants such as PM and VOCs as well as aerosol particles, including airborne viruses and bacteria that can cause colds, flus and sickness.

The special add-on, U-Lamp, is particularly effective on directly purifying the air (not only the survaces) from viruses and bacteria, which in schools can be a real solution to cross contamination.

Kinder Haus-Kinder College Bologna became a Pure Air Zone, capturing and digesting up to contaminants every day, contributing to enhancing the air quality in the classroom, to improving their environmental footprint and to attracting customers from the entire Province.

Becoming a Pure Air Zone could:

• Reduce school absences

• Increase children’s productivity and learning experience

• Improve the service quality

Through this solution, parents and teachers can live safely in the knowledge that their children are growing up in a better, cleaner world.

If you’d like to know more about how your school can become a Pure Air Zone, book a call with one of our air quality experts. These informal meetings are a chance for us to learn more about your situation and your pain points and discuss how our solutions could help.