Dozens of primary schools in Brabant will be thoroughly renovated in the coming years, or even get a completely new building, according to a survey by Omroep Brabant.
The cost of this will run into the millions, but in most cases, school boards are confident in receiving the necessary funding. Indoor climate and air quality have become hot issues owing to the corona crisis. In August 2020, indoor environmental expert Froukje van Dijken warned: “at sixty to seventy per cent of the schools, healthy air does not flow through the building”.
Two years later, what is the current situation in the Brabant school buildings?
Many schools keep a tab on the air quality by using CO2 meters. These could be purchased at a discount with support from the ministry, although a few school boards are still waiting for them to be delivered. According to Flip Verwaaijen van Breedsaam, who is responsible for the buildings of primary schools in the region, “the meters show what we already knew: the situation regarding CO2 and temperature is below par in education, the problem must be addressed instead of measured”. How schools will install ventilation systems or make the necessary renovations to solve this issue is something we will see in the near future.
Source: Wim Heesterbeek, Omroep Brabant
