Furniture has now become an essential asset for homes, offices, schools and other institutions. Especially, the school furniture spending forms the major expenditure of overall school infrastructure and as such buying school furniture may not be as easy as it appears for school management or authorities. The historic origins of school furniture can be traced back to the 1880s when John Loughlin in Ohio invented the first school desk that became quite popular.
Over the time, the evolution of education from writing on the slate from primers to writing on papers and owning textbooks necessitated the need for a place for students to stash their things leading to the manufacturing of different types of school furniture that we see today.
Now, choosing school furniture from among the vast choices and types of furniture available is a serious work that involves the responsibility of the person or team of purchasers on whom is delegated the process of buying school furniture.
Buying school furniture without taking into consideration parameters such as ergonomics, comfort and safety of the students, space constraints etc would result in unsafe classrooms and serious health issues in students using such school furniture.
Therefore, the following factors should be taken into account when choosing school furniture and these factors include-
- Ergonomics –
Ergonomics plays a crucial role in classrooms for creating a more comfortable and focused learning environment. There has been a surge in demand for ergonomic school chairs with school furniture manufacture in India playing a key role in the manufacturing of such school furniture. Students with different physical dimensions and age attend the classrooms and to address these discrepancies chairs and desks that are adjustable in terms of seat height and back support are the right choice.
- Flexibility-
The requirement of flexible workstations is not just limited to work places such as offices, factories but is also pertinent to classrooms. Instead of purchasing identical furniture for every student, it is better to have a mixture of school furniture that gives students a choice of choosing that furniture which is best for them in terms of their physical and psychological factors.
- Open Space
Students need open space for their free movement as well when participating in different classroom activities. As such, school furniture should be durable, light in weight and capable of reconfiguring smoothly when transporting them from one place to another within the classroom or school premises.
- Buying directly from school furniture manufacturer
Persons/School Managers responsible for the purchase of school furniture should try to buy directly from the school furniture manufacturers who are into the business of school furniture manufacture in India to get the best deal instead of buying from dealers or resellers. In addition, the school furniture manufacturers may have a higher and better variety of products with them.
- New Technologies
The classrooms are undergoing major upheavals with the technology seeping into teaching methodologies. For this reason, before investing in school furniture one must take into account these advancements to accommodate technological growth in the education sector in the years to come.
- Safe and Secured
School furniture should not only be durable, sturdy and comfortable but it should also be risk free from any untoward incidents happening in the classes when children are in playful mood. Thoughtful placement of school furniture at secondary exits can help in reducing the risks in case of emergencies. School furniture should be fireproof and should be light in weight when they are required to be transported from one place to another. They should not have any rough edges that may cause injuries to the students’ day-to-day activities within the classroom premises.