School furniture for developing countries: A field performance evaluation

The education of children in developing countries has long been regarded as an important element of economic development. Although well-designed school furniture has been shown to contribute to the learning process, school furniture used in these countries often detracts from rather than facilitates education. As part of a joint research project between the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR) and Purdue University, different aspects of school furniture design and construction were investigated. The purpose of the research was to develop furniture designs that are strong and durable, low in cost, require little maintenance, and can be made by local industries from locally available materials. Although results of previous laboratory-scale studies by the authors indicated that strong durable school furniture can be constructed using simple techniques, field testing was also needed to evaluate the prototypes developed. Sixty-six desk units (table and chair) were fabricated at the ITCR, accordingly, for in-service testing and were distributed to selected public schools in Costa Rica ― each with more than 500 students. From those that qualified, five schools were randomly selected from the central region of the country and two from the coastal areas. Ten desks and accompanying chairs were placed in each of six schools and the remaining six sets were placed in one additional school. A follow-up form was prepared to monitor the condition of the furniture for a period of 3 years. Results showed that no structural damage occurred, especially in the joints, the weak point of current school furniture. Additional observations are provided herein.