It may not be a general belief but school structural designs and services are associated with the accomplishment of students and the amount of enthusiasm in instructors and teachers. It is, however, an evident truth that many of our schools are in poor condition and are in need of serious upkeep. To foster a better educational environment than we have at the moment, we have to take some effort for school repair and maintenance.

The rate of deterioration of schools buildings have reached alarming rates and the public as well as school officials are clamoring for additional budget to address the many deficiencies in school building designs, facilities and infrastructures. There is actually a condition known as the “sick building syndrome”. Essentially, this condition is linked to one’s place of work or home. Structural deficiencies resulting to poor indoor quality, bad quality of heating and ventilation, contamination of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems as well as other flaws in building designs are serious situations that affects not only the health of students and teachers but also their enthusiasm and accomplishments. Health problems such as asthma and other respiratory illnesses and allergic responses to molds and mildew caused by humidity and temperature are linked to poor building structure.

One aspect we need to take into account in school repair and maintenance is not the structure itself but rather its services and advantages. By keeping these in mind, we are able to handle the problem with a new angle. Instead of talking about the school building in terms of rooms, gymnasiums, and science laboratories, we consider it as a room for knowledge, a place for sports education and an area for discoveries and experiments. This provides us with a new passion to see the advantages of developing our schools and building a better educational environment. There have been several reports directly associating physical conditions inside the classroom as determinants of the attainment of both the students and the teachers.

Investing on building a better educational environment also implies spending for restoration and upkeep. It is an investment we have to make today, pretty much like church repair and restoration where we bring back and boost our connection to the past. It has many continuing advantages as well as immediate advantages. It suggests better quality of health and education. Ultimately, this means better human resource and certainly a sensible nation-building investment. An yearly repair and maintenance by schools is a means to successfully handle and arm our future.

According to Mary Filardo, investment and responsible management of school public systems shell out three times the benefits of the initial investment: first, for the skilled labor force in the community, second, for the students and teachers with an environment favorable for learning, and third, for the improved quality education and its benefits for the nation in the years to come.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.