कवचShiksha

Project by: Ramaa Sahasrabuddhe and Suyash SinghMentored by: Shikha Agarwal and Anusmita Das

SOCIAL DISTANCING OF STUDENTS IN MUNICIPAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS

National Institute of Design, MP

Once primary schools reopen in India, safe learning forchildren will be crucial with utmost precautions taken toprevent the corona virus infection. Amongst all ages ofschool children, monitoring of students of lower primary:class I to IV will be the most difficult as students abovethis age group are quite self aware. Furthermore childrenof municipal schools, which operate in rural and urbanareas need a cost efficient intervention to ensure socialdistancing and safe learning in school.

Abstract To make classroom learning safe and easy for municipalschool students while maintaining social distancing in theclassroom. Creating a cost effective and multi functionaldevice which will aid municipal schools in safe classroomlearning.

Aim

Keeping in mind the behavior pattern of students whiledesigning an interventionCatering to the various seating arrangements andenvironments in which school is conductedcreating a comfortable space for students which shouldn'thamper learning.Material used for the design should be easily accessible innatureDesign should be ergonomic and durable

Objectives

Children of this age group are highly active and social .They have prior knowledge of sitting in an arranged manner.Municipal school facilities are directly proportional to number of students .Condition of these schools are better off in urban areas than in rural areas.Two seating arrangements - Ground and Benches are found where groundseating arrangement is found to be more spacious.Mid day meal scheme is a major reason for children to attend school regularly

insi

ghts

User Pro ile - Students omuni ipal primary s hools a ed 6-

studyin in lasses I -IV hoome rom e onomi ally eaker

se tion o the so iety.

Method o data olle tion -Se ondary sour es a aila le onthe internet : photo raphs, ideos,ase studies, arti les ,et

study o sittin arran ements and nature o lassrooms: opensemi open and losed spa es.

closed spaces: Floor: withmats or carpets

closed spaces:benches: 2-3students on each bench

open spaces: under atree or ground

semi open spaces:unroofed classrooms

USER STUDY

user

pro

file

,

students not attending in one shift70%

students attending in one shift30%

Creating classes shift wise Classes will be divided into batches of 15-20 students which have to sit 6 ft apart.suspension of morning assemblies andsports activities in the playgroundUtilize all labs, rooms, halls as classroomsto maintain social distancing

children stand in aqueue to receive foodChildren sit on thefloor to eatPlates and cutlery isprovided

Guidelines for schools byindian government:

only 30% of students tocome to school at a time

THE MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME

Provides nutrition to theeconomically weak children Kitchens are built in theschool itself , else a contractis signed for an organizationto deliver it to the schoolsImproved the attendance inthe schools There is no clear eating areastandardized in all schools

LITERATURE REVIEWINS IGH TS :

•Schoo ls must reopen ,many count r ies have chosen to open w i th sen io r c lassesf i rs t .•The count r ies tha t opened schoo ls a re prac t ic ing soc ia l d is tanc ing and san i t i z ing.•Schoo ls c losed on such ep idemics bu t no methods were deve loped to open sa fe ly .•The cond i t ion o f Ind ian mun ic ipa l schoo ls i sno t we l l enough to opera te .•We have s ta f f shor tage bo th fo r teach ing and non teach ing .•The bas ic in f ras t ruc ture fac i l i t i es a lso lack .•As fo r san i t i z ing the to i le t fac i l i t i es come in the way and they are a b ig i ssue totack le .•Genera l l y the fac i l i t i es in the schoo l a re p ropor t iona l to number o f s tudents .•The dev ices used and deve loped by o ther count r ies a re behav io r based .•As per Ind ian gu ide l ines a l l ac t i v i t ies tha t p romote mix ing o f ch i ld ren w i l l besuspended , so no spor ts o r schoo l canteens wou ld be open.• Ind ian governments a re a lso focus ing a t soc ia l d is tanc ing as the main prevent ivemeasure .

Why focus on Municipal andGovernment Schools ?

Unlike private schools These schools in villages and towns needeconomic and easy measures to ensure the safety of the students,illiterate and uneducated parents will not be able to cater to thechild’s requirements for healthy safety.

the current infrastructural conditions of these target schools: Not enough classroom space which is a concern, inadequateschool staff to take care of the students so children will have tobe made self aware. Children sit on the floor to study cramped up in a classroom. Lunch done as per the mid day meal scheme distributes foodto the children and students gather in one place.

We studied the various ways in which countries overthe world are dealing with corona virus and openingschools in this dire situation .China , South Korea ,Denmark , Germany , France , Britain ,etc were studiedNearly all these countries focused on creating socialdistancing in schools as the foremost measure after preventive measure like testing, masks and sanitising.

OPPORTUNITYAREASManaging the kids inside the class room wherethey would be spending most of the time andwhere mid day meal program takes place wouldbe difficult without a barrier or divide . Sincethey are so playful and agile they needsomething to help them stay cautious.

As per uidelines maintainin 6 t ap et een students ithout aarrier or a di ide

The lassroom spa es ein small , ithout a di ide or arrier ha in all thestudents sit inside ould e a ery i task so e need a de i e that is aom ination o seatin demar ation and physi al arrier .

Developing a device that helps them tosafely sit and and also have the mid daymeals inside the classroom

Why o us on seatin arran ement on loor rather than en hes?

Only losed spa es ha e en hes , most o the s hool en hes are made or t ostudents . It's relati ely easy to separate students on en hes rather than on

round here they an keep on displa in themsel es.Most o the muni ipals hools ha e open or semi open spa es.

Shorta e o sta

Kids need to e under super ision in this situation ut, shorta e o sta othtea hin and non-tea hin makes it di i ult to mana e them .Hen e somethinthat makes them ollo the pre enti e measures on their o n is needed.

Funneling Down

Ground Demar ation Desi ns

Takin inspiration rom ames the hildren alreadyplay , tessellations and olk art and ran olis.

Porta le Desi ns

Desi ns that ould e easily stored sin e the s hoolsha e less spa e and are also multi un tional .

Barrier Desi ns

A physi al arrier that is made out o lo ally a aila lematerials to make it ost e e ti e .

IDEATION

handlesto carry

Hand wovenmaterial: cane or

bamboo

soft cushioning

SOCIALDISTANCINGSTUDY UNIT

The study unit will mark the boundary foreach student acts as a self sufficient unit, havingenough space for the student to keeptheir bagSuited for open, semi-open and closedclassroom spaces

traditional headgear used byfarmers in north easternparts of Indiasuch as Knup(Meghalaya)and Japi(Assam)

winnowing fan has a tight weave whichgives it strength

Dimensions: height-2.5 feet, width-2.2 feet depth-2.2 feet(taken fromthe average height analysis ofchildren aged 6 to 10) dimentionscan be changed as per requirementMaterial: cane weaving,alternatematerial: yarn, jute, cloth, stainlesssteel (any weavable material)can easily be made by localcraftsmen near the school, which isfeasible both in rural and urbanmunicipal schools

PORT

ABIL

TY

FEAT

URE

S

SIZE

AN

D M

AKIN

G

inspiration

Portable easy to carry unitsChildren can hold the tent overtheir heads to seek protection fromsun and raincaters to the requirement of mid-day meals

FINAL IDEAS

the Safe Study Mats make cleaning andhygiene of the classroom floor easyThe mats will act as floor demarcationsfor the study unitstackable boat shaped mats, once put onthe floor they lock up together to form atessellationMats can be weaved or made from non-skid material

to be placedon top

Sa e Study matsclassroom setting of mats: top view

stackable foldabletessellable individual units

1.2.3.

inside a municipalschool classroom

full product: MAT+STUDY UNIT

this arrangement creates socialdistancing amongst the studentsthe shape of the boat mat reatesegual distance all around one studyunit

Pidha with ascreen The idea is to make use of boththe sides of the screen to makebest use of resource and at thesame time time make the luncheating a little interactive sincekids would have been separatedall day .

The design is very easy to manufacture as itsalready known by local carpenters, no specialsophisticated tools are required to make it .Pidha is known to children ,so they wont feelalienated around it and would becomfortable.It could be arranged in any manner as perrequirement on the ground , so maintainingthe social gap is made easy .The screen is removable and the whole set upis portable , cleaning and sanitizing is easier .

Inspiration

In a small rowing boat two people sittogether facing each other .Thisexperience of interaction is very

refreshing, So to keep thisexperience of interaction possible in

this situation of schools , a physicaldivide or screen can be

used .

Traditional Pidha , also knownby the name of patta or chowki.It's widely used all over rural

India.

Desi n The original traditional design of pidha is kept as it is , only someminor changes in the dimensions and a slit cut in middle to allow thedivide to slip in , and rest on ground and get support to stand iscreated.

Materials

The base could be made using woodor  plywood.Screens/Divides areavailable in form of Acrylic and PVC,PET-G in various thicknesses.If thesheets are not available , good qualityof OHP or Acetate sheets can be used ,supported by a frame .The frame thenneeds to be slid instead of the slab .

Dimensions of the product

24 inches square top 8 inches height of the base PVC slab - 30 x 20 inchesrectangleThickness of wood and acrylicsheet depends on availability

Multi-purpose andsustainable

As the divide is slid inside , nothing isattached permanently and hence thepidha can be used for all otherpurposes and divide is a rectangularpiece which again be used .Thedevice uses all locally availablematerials .

Dimensions of traditional pidha rangefrom 18 X 12 inches rectangular top to15X15 inches square top . Dimension of a steel plate that ismostly used in these schools is around10 inches diameter .So a square top would be beneficial forour purpose . And to accomodate theplate and have room for hands therevised dimensions would be -

Themechanism ofthe product isso simple , just

sliding thescreen in theslit of the

pidha

Padhne ka Pidha

Screen

Pidha

Slide

Slit

REFERENCES :P o ita Kundu , ,Is So ial Distan in Feasi le o a Majo it oS hools in India?

Anjali Mod , P a na, , ie ed Ma ,

T i al s hool in Villa e Pipali a,RajasthanK. Tejas ani M. Lalitha S ide i, ,Jou nal o Edu ation andP a ti e, ie ed Ap il ,

Mana Sin h , A hite t ,SPA. - ase stud o muni ipal s hool ,

hau i illa e , BhopalChild en Miss Out On Mid-Da Meals As Go t S hools Sta ShutAmidst COVID- S a e | CNNNe s The Unstoppa le Tea he s o India's Go e nmentS hools

Screen

Pidhato be placed

on top

ull p odu t: MAT+STUDY UNITull p odu t: padhne ka pidha

FINAL PRODUCTSकवचShiksha