Frequent closure of schools in the Capital due to bad air quality and the risk it poses to children has made schools come up with ways to ensure that children continue to learn in a healthy environment by rethinking the architecture.
The Ardee School in New Friends Colony has created a micro-environment where filtered ambient air is pumped into the central atrium that makes its way to the corridors and classrooms to provide a pollution-free oxygen-rich environment.
Partnering with Nirvana Being, a company that provides solutions for clean air technology, the school has a system in which filtered air is pumped into the school through vents, ensuring that the air quality is maintained at steady levels irrespective of the air quality outside.
Jai Dhar Gupta, founder of Nirvana Being says that earlier, the solution was used at homes of high net worth individuals and offices but it was that first time the technology was being used in schools to avoid future closures. “It is a green, sustainable and cost-effective solution and creates a micro-environment which is like a dome around the school that includes an indoor play area so that students are not just restricted to their classrooms,” Mr. Gupta says.
Health, safety
The school said that there was a need to reimagine and re-engineer educational institutions to drive health and safety.
Shefali Varma, chairperson of The Ardee Schools, says: “School designs of yesteryear’s don’t work in today’s environment. Large sprawling campuses with open corridors are hazardous to our children’s health. Like everything must keep changing according to the environment, the way school buildings are designed, will have to be re-imagined if we want to mitigate infections.”
Vardan Chitkara, a student, says that closing schools is not a solution to air pollution. “I feel it is safer for me to come to school than stay at home as the AQI inside school is better than at home. We have had online classes for too long and I miss the interaction and connection with other students.”
The school administration says that it has written to the Delhi Government requesting permission to open the school and not take a one-size-fits-all approach to closing schools.
Priyal Agarwal, another student, says that she spoke about the technology to her friends at other schools. “The Government has passed one directive to close all schools but if our school is providing a safe alternative why should we lose out on coming to school,” Ms. Agarwal said.
