Is the Air in Your School Harmful to Your Students?

We are more aware today of the many factors impacting students' performances beyond their curriculums. Adoptive learning styles, student activities, school funding and non-traditional classroom setups have all contributed to better student learning. But did you know there's a hidden factor that researchers have only recently revealed that actually has a huge influence on student performance and it's time we start talking about it too.  

The air your students breathe can greatly affect how well they do in school. Students spend all day at school and researchers are now understanding that poor air quality and rising temperatures, both consequences of climate change, are harming student achievement. In several studies, higher classroom temperatures were more likely to increase aggressive behavior among students and poorer test grades . Which is important to note, as final examinations usually take place during the hotter seasons and that means, for some of your students this could significantly impact their performances.

What is the ideal temperature for a classroom?

There are laws that hold schools responsible to provide a healthy temperature for their students, but say no further specification. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that a classroom should not go beyond 24°c (75.2°f) as the absolute maximum temperature and no less than the minimum 18°c (64.4°f) and it should never fall below 16°c (60.8°f). 

And while that still leaves a range of what to set the temperature as, understanding how it is affecting your students can help direct you. Students struggle to concentrate the most when their classrooms are too hot. That’s because their bodies are so focused on lowering their body heat that it usurps their concentration to anything else. Spending 8 hours or more a day in a classroom is uncomfortable and with poor air circulation and high temperatures, many students could be feeling stuffy and tired. 

What is the quality of the air your students are breathing?

Besides temperature, air quality is just as impactful on student learning. Indoor air pollution can happen inside your classroom, if you’re not properly ventilating. CO2 is a significant contributor to air pollution and recent findings found that in most UK schools, despite their adherence to government guidance to increase ventilation still had levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels 3 times higher than the recommended amount. Sensibo Pure is the World's most advanced smart air purifier that will keep them healthy & energized​.

Exposure to CO2 can produce a variety of adverse health effects that include, trouble concentrating, reduced memory, headaches, anxiousness, difficulty breathing, and fatigue - All factors that directly affect student performance. Students can experience an 80% decrease in cognitive functions when CO2 levels are too high. 

A good air conditioner can increase student learning 

Heat and air quality have the greatest impacts on student learning, and that’s why having an efficient air conditioning system in your school can change everything. Research found that while hotter temperatures were correlated with poor student performance and behavior, having an air conditioner got rid of nearly all the negative impacts from the heat. Additionally, a good AC can also properly ventilate the air in your classrooms and routinely cleaning and well maintaining your AC better the chance for clean air to circulate.

But Sensibo wants to help schools take it even one step further and provide schools with the ability to take full control of their schools temperature and air quality together with their Sensibo Air PRO.  The smart AC controller hooks up to any AC unit (that means you don’t have to even think of replacing your units) and has a built-in monitoring system capable of detecting levels of humidity, CO2 and TVOC. And everything is controlled and easily viewed through Sensibo’s smartphone application, so you can take control and care of your school at the palm of your hand. 

Teaching can be difficult for many reasons but providing your students with a healthy environment to boost their performance doesn’t have to be one of them.