Through Healthier Learning Environments In Turkish Schools

Abstract

Turkish Acoustical Society (TAKDER) and Occupational Hygienists Society (IHIDER) of Turkey organized a series of events for International Noise Awareness Day (INAD) 2023 in collaboration with, Acoustical Society of Italy and Acoustical Society of Spain with the theme ”Keep your hearing, keep your health: Educational facilities”. As part of INAD 2023 activities, a research project for assessment of acoustic conditions in schools and teachers’ noise exposure and assessment of its health effects was started as a joint project between TAKDER and IHIDER. This short paper introduces the preliminary results of this project, including evaluation of the acoustical quality in four Turkish schools of four institution levels: kindergarten, primary school, middle school, and secondary school. The acoustic performance of schools was analyzed by on-site measurements of sound insulation, reverberation time, ambient noise levels and speech intelligibility. The findings of the survey were analyzed in reference to the national regulation. The results indicate that most of the building elements and school spaces do not comply with acoustic criteria. The findings are further to be discussed in collaboration with professionals from variety of disciplines to transform schools through a healthier and more comfortable learning environment for children and teachers.