BARRIER OF VENTILATION MODES TO ACHIEVE A BALANCE ENVIRONMENT IN REFURBISHED PRESCHOOLS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v78.8307Keywords:
Preschool, ventilation, environmentAbstract
The preschool education is compulsory to children in Malaysia. This regulation has encouraged more premises to be refurbished as a preschool building. This paper examines the pupils’ absenteeism and the prevalence of Sick Building Symptoms (SBS) initiated in congested private preschool with different ventilation. The study analysed data from the attendance record of 10 classrooms and the questionnaire surveys administered to 151 parents about their children health symptoms once they were leaving the schools building. Indoor Carbon Dioxide (CO2) measured as indicator of the problems. Questions on SBS used 5-point likert scale with symptoms concern on nose, eye, head, throat, skin, breath and tiredness. The descriptive and chi-square test applied to obtain the association of SBS and ventilation strategies in the classrooms. With quantitative and qualitative explanation, the unhealthy environment in refurbished pre-schools explained respiratory symptoms and higher rates of absenteeism frequently reported in air-conditioning (AC) classrooms due to concentrations of CO2 exceeded 1000 ppm. These symptoms show there were weaknesses in ventilation performance and environment in the selected preschools. Further analyses on objective measurements in future research are strongly recommended.
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