

Guía para ventilación en aulas (Classroom Ventilation Guide). Instituto de Diagnóstico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua, IDAEA-CSIC. Mesura (October 2020)
Almost three months after reopening, schools have proven to be safer places than expected with regard to the risk of COVID-19 infection. Ventilation, constant disinfection, and the use of masks have turned out to be efficient tools in the fight against the virus. Apart from those health measures, however, and as I warned in my previous article, it remains to be seen whether sufficient attention has been paid to schoolchildren’s wellbeing. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the spatial changes that have been implemented most frequently in schools and the architectural, social, and pedagogical issues such changes ought to raise.
In a recent article, UNICEF reported that 320 million students all over the world are unable to access classrooms, warning of the “harmful effect of school closures on the learning process and on children’s wellbeing”2. It should be remembered that many schools constitute a source of food and safety for marginalised and vulnerable children. Let’s hope that careful reflection on the pandemic will also help generate “vaccines” in areas such as school space, and that this will lead to friendly, inclusive environments that cater to all the needs, both physical and psychological, of the education community.
Guía para ventilación en aulas (Classroom Ventilation Guide). Instituto de Diagnóstico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua, IDAEA-CSIC. Mesura (October 2020)