Rapid urbanization means shrinking green cover. However, ensuring adequate greenery for learning institutes like school is necessary. It enhances the educational climate around the institution with a positive impact on the learners’ physical health and mental state. Experts believe greenery around a learning campus improves children’s overall performance, induces better concentration and fosters a better social climate.
Impact Of Greenery In A Learning Institute
There are many benefits of greenery in a learning institute.
Let’s take a look at some of the most rewarding advantages greenery brings to a Kindergarten:
- Greenery plays a vital role in the purification of air around the school. It helps to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds, which could be detrimental to young kids’ health. Air remains fresh and healthy, which is better for the children’s physical health.
- Any vegetation near or around the school helps combat summer heat, limiting the need for artificial cooling. Also, greenery on the roofs and facades helps to enhance insulation capacity. It helps to reduce the expenditure on the need for heating and cooling devices.
- Plants release moisture into the air, which helps to balance the dryness in the atmosphere. As a result, headaches are reduced, and children tend to concentrate better.
- The visibility of greenery in the environment tends to lower stress among students, which positively enhances their concentration levels.
- Greenery in the playgrounds encourages students to play outdoors, which fosters a positive social climate among them.
There are several application methods for green installations in and around learning institutions. Here are some excellent examples of their application:
- Roofing and facades
- Installation of plants in the canteen, classrooms and lecture theatres
- Dividing walls with greenery and mobile planters
- Green bordering which can double up as vegetable gardens
- Decorating trees in the playground or campus
- Maintaining hedges around the precinct
Other Benefits Of Greenery In Schools
There are many benefits of greenery for Kindergarten and other classes. For instance, greenery helps reduce pollution in the surrounding regions, which is why even the best international schools in Riyadh focus on maintaining enough greenery in the surrounding regions.
Given below are some of the major benefits of greenery in schools:
Controls Temperature
The heat induced by the built-up surface areas, especially for schools made in urban areas, creates stress which can affect the ability to concentrate and adversely affect health due to prolonged exposure. A green environment helps to make everyone feel more comfortable.
Green roofing solutions, for example, help insulate the school’s buildings. Similarly, shade trees above the playground enhance thermal comfort, which improves playtime opportunities for the kids. A controlled temperature in the school environment helps students focus on their studies and excel in several activities.
Improves Air Quality
There are many air pollutants in urban areas, along with volatile organic compounds which emerge from vehicles and industries. It is no new truth that long-term exposure to such particulate matter may lead to lung problems and cardiovascular diseases.
The presence of dense vegetation around a school can limit the flow of air pollution to the school. Plants can absorb carbon dioxide from the environment. The process of vapouring water helps to enhance humidity which can significantly bring down adverse health hazards. Good air quality is a necessity for everyone. Without adequate green cover, children stand at risk of developing health hazards.
Enhances Concentration Levels
Students can learn effectively only when they are able to concentrate properly. According to multiple research types, the school’s physical environment is vital in aiding children’s overall development.
The presence of plants in a classroom helps to promote better social behaviour and reduces their chances of falling ill. The view of green surroundings helps to reduce stress levels and raises concentration in students, with several other positive effects. Greener surroundings are also associated with improved cognitive development and positive development of memory and concentration levels.
Improves Scope Of Physical Activity
Lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for children’s health. Greener surroundings feel more inviting for students to come out and engage in different physical activities.
Integrating greenery with the school infrastructure can ensure that students remain active and do not fall prey to a sedentary lifestyle. Currently, indulging in enough physical activity is the only way to keep students from the perils of various health issues. A green surrounding will feel inviting to the kids and encourage them to increase their physical activity.
Conclusion
There are many benefits of green surroundings. For this reason, it deserves a prime position in every school’s infrastructural planning and budgeting. The presence of greenery around a school building helps to enhance test scores and improve the working memory of a student.
The presence of greenery also enhances the attention span among students and reduces stress and aggression. There are many ways in which schools can create a positive learning environment for kids and induce positive learning habits.
