Ergonomic Design Considerations For Schooldesks From Anthropometric Perspective

Abstract

newline According to statistics published there are over 790,000 schools providing education at primary level while over 532,000 high schools provide education at secondary level in India. It is also recorded that over 23 crore of children are enrolled in standards I to X in year 2014 which include over 11 crore girls and more than 12 crore boys. These figures indicate the sheer size of the Indian education sector. Such a huge teen aged population is using the schooldesks which are probably not suitable to them. newlineThe preliminary observations which were supported by literature review indicate that the existing design and dimensions of the desk are not ergonomically suitable for the students. The traditional designs of schooldesks may lead to uncomfortable postures of the students which could be painful due to the prolonged periods children spend at school. Moreover, it is possible that children may maintain those postural behaviors for the rest of their lives. In most of the developed countries use of new models of school desk - separate chair and table has become common. In India, however, old fashioned dual desks are still used very widely. In Solapur region also the same models are used which are not ergonomically designed and might prove to be detrimental to the health of the users. Hence purpose of this research is to develop ergonomic design of school desks from anthropometric perspective.