MICROCLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Microclimatic conditions are related to the healthy development and the overall condition of pupils, as they spend a large part of the day at school. Unsuitable lighting in school rooms may result in visual disturbances, headache and attention deficit disorder. Frequent imperfections of school buildings include inappropriate lighting, heating, thermal insulation and other deficiencies causing discomfort during the teaching process. These deficiencies often occur mainly in older buildings, as sophisticated methods and calculations have not been used in the past to design suitable lighting, its intensity, type and location, as it is performed today. Therefore, the aim of this contribution is to measure the suitability of illumination of the indoor environment in the selected elementary school based on practical measurements, taking into account the optimal requirements set by the Slovak and European technical standards and other regulations dealing with the given issue. By evaluating and comparing the measured values, we found that daylight in the selected classes is not sufficient. Based on the measured data, we proposed adequate measures to improve the current situation, which would help to increase the safety and comfort of pupils and employees of elementary schools built before 1990 in the Slovak Republic.