Implementation of the healthy school construction plan to promote students' health and well-being

With the development of society, the health and well-being of children and adolescents are receiving increasing attention from the government and scholars. The implementation of the health (promoting) school construction plan has a significant effect on promoting students' health and well-being, which is especially important in the normalized stage of COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control. The study summarizes the importance of health (promoting) schools for students' health and well-being, reviews the development of health (promoting) school construction in China, and proposes countermeasures and recommendations to further promote health (promoting) school construction in China in the light of the new era.

A Monte Carlo Assessment of the Effect of Different Ventilation Strategies to Mitigate the COVID-19 Contagion Risk in Educational Buildings

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has increased the general awareness of the importance of proper ventilation in the indoor environment to reduce the contagion risk. In particular, attention has been paid to specific categories of buildings, such as schools, due to two factors: (1) high occupancy density and (2) the presence of young and sometimes more susceptible people. Despite the high level of alertness towards the ventilation of classrooms, robust analyses of the effectiveness of the different strategies to mitigate the contagion risk have been difficult to perform. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and many factors, such as the presence of multiple viral strains, use of facial masks, progression in vaccination, and installation of air purifiers and other sanitization devices, make it difficult to fully quantify the impact of room ventilation by simply analysing available monitoring data. Moreover, mitigation strategies related to ventilation are often dynamic, increasing the complexity of the problem to assess. In this framework, this work proposes a new Monte Carlo method integrated with building performance simulation to evaluate the number of infected occupants under different scenarios, considering also the dynamic boundary conditions. The described approach has been applied to a case study classroom at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, analysing almost 100 different scenarios and discussing the effectiveness of different ventilation strategies traditionally adopted to ensure suitable IAQ according to CO2 concentration limits. Results highlight the importance of combining different solutions (e.g., mixed-mode ventilation and facial masks) to limit the risk for both students and lecturers. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Indoor Air is the property of Hindawi Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Estimating SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in university dormitories using CO2 pulse injections

Air movement dynamics within three student dormitories were studied with simulated carbon dioxide (CO2) pulse injections to understand SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk. CO2 decay rate, proportion of shared air, and transport time were calculated from dynamic CO2 measurement data within simulated source and adjacent receptor rooms. Applying a Wells-Riley infection risk analysis with these results, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in adjacent rooms ranged from 1% to 58% assuming an average emission rate of 5 quanta per hour and exposure duration of 3.5 days. Door opening status was very influential in resulting risk and vertical transport from source to above rooms was observed in all dormitories. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

The effect of a physical exercise package on the motor proficiency of students with down syndrome

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and potential effect of a physical exercise package on the motor proficiency of children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Methods: In this research, an experimental design was conducted in two special schools to evaluate the effectiveness of this package and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Forty students with Down syndrome were selected and randomly divided into intervention and control groups. A total of 36 (22 male and 14 female) students out of 50 at two special schools for children with special needs between October 2020 and March 2021 were recruited for the study. Participants were aged 12.888 +or- 2.375 (12.954 +or- 2.609 for boys and 12.785 +or- 2.044 for girls) years. The 18 students in the intervention group participated in the exercise sessions, 2 or 3 sessions per week for 12 weeks. Pre- and post-tests were performed on both groups. The Physical Exercise Package included the principles of exercise, the preferred exercise methods, and the details of exercise planning for Down syndrome individuals (FITT-VP) based on the etiology of Down syndrome and the characteristics of people with this syndrome. Motor proficiency was measured using the Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2). Results: The results of the study showed that the designed exercise package was adhered to with all the participants attending 93.2% of the sessions, and participants significantly improved their total motor proficiency score, manual dexterity, upper-limb coordination, strength, balance, upper-limb coordination, running speed and agility and fine motor Integration (P < 0.05). However, the exercises did not significantly change the bilateral coordination and fine motor precision (P > 0.05). Conclusions: the current study result shows that developing and implementing the individualized exercise package and observing the principles set out in the program could have significant positive impacts on the motor proficiency of students with Down syndrome.

Influenza surveillance in Ezhou city, Hubei Province, 2016-2021

ObjectiveTo analyze the influenza surveillance data in Ezhou City, Hubei Province from 2016 to 2021, determine the epidemiological characteristics and etiological trend of influenza like illness (ILI), and to provide scientific evidence for influenza prevention and control. MethodsThe ILI surveillance data were reported by Ezhou influenza sentinel hospitals and etiological examination results were collected by network laboratory. Influenza surveillance data from 2016 to 2021 were analyzed. ResultsFrom 2016 to 2021, the percentage of ILI visits (ILI%) in Ezhou city was 2.81% and increased over years. Majority (55.55%) of ILI cases were 0-4 years. A total of 7 716 ILI samples were examined from 2016 to 2021, of which 1 467 tested positive with a positive rate of 19.01%. Influenza A H1N1 was mainly concentrated in January-April, A H3N2 mainly in August-December, B Victoria mainly in April-July and December-March, and B Yamagata mainly in December-February. Influenza network laboratory isolated influenza virus from the 1 467 positive samples by using MDCK cells and SPF chicken embryos. The overall isolation rate was 32.78%, which was 26.93% by MDCK cells and 5.86% by SPF chicken embryos. From 2016 to 2021, a total of 13 ILI outbreaks were reported in Ezhou City. Temporally, the outbreaks mainly occurred in winter and spring. Spatially, they were mainly in primary schools, middle schools and kindergartens. ConclusionThe winter and spring are the key time period of influenza prevention and control in Ezhou City, as they are susceptible to influenza outbreaks. Children aged 0-14 are the key population of prevention and control. Diverse subtypes of influenza virus alternate by years, which warrants continually strengthening monitoring. Additionally, certain countermeasures against COVID-19 may be recommended in the prevention and control of influenza.

Carbon Dioxide Concentration Levels and Thermal Comfort in Primary School Classrooms: What Pupils and Teachers Do

The current climate emergency concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic demand urgent action to maintain healthy indoor environments in energy efficient ways. Promoting good indoor environments, in particular, increasing ventilation levels, has been a prominent strategy to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission indoors. However, this strategy could be detrimental to thermal comfort, particularly during the heating season in buildings located in temperate climate zones. This paper presents research conducted in two primary schools in South Wales (UK) where the temperature, relative humidity and the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration levels were monitored. The study monitored six classrooms and two communal spaces in the two schools during the academic year 2021/2022, the first academic year back to teaching and learning in school buildings after home-schooling and educational disruptions due to COVID-19 lockdowns. The study investigated the actions taken by teachers and pupils to balance the thermal comfort needs while minimising CO2 concentration levels. We conducted user studies to explore the comfort perceptions by pupils and teachers in relation to the thermal conditions and the freshness of air in the monitored classrooms. The paper identifies opportunities where end-users, teachers and pupils engaged with the management of the indoor environmental conditions and adopted actions to balance the requirement of reducing CO2 concentration levels while promoting thermal comfort. This research offers lessons and insights related to end-users' agency and their understanding of indoor environments and thermal experience in schools.

Comparison of indoor air quality and thermal comfort standards and variations in exceedance for school buildings

Addressing indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort issues in school buildings is challenging but relevant. Firstly, their primary occupants are more vulnerable than adults. Secondly, school buildings are often inadequate being too old or designed to prioritise energy-efficiency targets. Thirdly, occupants have often little control over the indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Lastly, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted the complexity and vulnerability of existing decision-making processes in relation to making timely and well-informed decisions about IEQ threats. Standards and guidelines vary over time and among similar countries despite targeting similar occupants, evaluate IAQ and thermal comfort independently, and do not include any specific adaptations to children. Thus, the aim of this research is to compare different available standards to evaluate IAQ and thermal comfort in school buildings. By analysing with different standards (EN16798, BB101, and ASHRAE 55 and 62.1) the data collected in schools in northern Italy, this research evaluated the consequences of different limits and approaches, and proposed improvements. The conclusions are that (i) thresholds and methods inconsistency within the same standard should be avoided;(ii) upper- and lower-bounded operative temperature scales are the most appropriate means to design and verify thermal comfort in classrooms;(iii) IAQ metrics that give an upper limit per a certain amount of consecutive time might prevent the build-up of indoor pollutants, even with high emissions from the building fabric;(iv) no standard proposes a combined IAQ and thermal comfort analysis which could enable more informed trade-off decisions considering IAQ, thermal comfort, and energy targets. © 2023 The Authors

Evaluation of Optimal Mechanical Ventilation Strategies for Schools for Reducing Risks of Airborne Viral Infection

Ventilation systems are one of the most effective strategies to reduce the risk of viral infection transmission in buildings. However, insufficient ventilation rates in crowded spaces, such as schools, would lead to high risks of infection transmission. On the other hand, excessive ventilation rates might significantly increase cooling energy consumption. Therefore, energy-efficient control methods, such as Demand Control Ventilation systems (DCV), are typically considered to maintain acceptable indoor air quality. However, it is unclear if the DCV-based controls can supply adequate ventilation rates to minimize the probability of infection (POI) in indoor spaces. This paper investigates the benefits of optimized ventilation strategies, including conventional mechanical systems (MV) and DCV, in reducing the POI and cooling energy consumption through a detailed sensitivity analysis. The study also evaluates the impact of the ventilation rate, social distancing, and number of infectors on the performance of the ventilation systems. A coupling approach of a calibrated energy model of a school building in Jeddah, KSA, with a validated Wells–Riley model is implemented. Based on the findings of this study, proper adjustment of the DCV set point is necessary to supply adequate ventilation rates and reduce POI levels. Moreover, optimal values of 2 ACH for ventilation rate and 2 m for social distance are recommended to deliver acceptable POI levels, cooling energy use, and indoor CO2 concentration for the school building. Finally, this study confirms that increasing the ventilation rate is more effective than increasing social distancing in reducing the POI levels. However, this POI reduction is achieved at the cost of a higher increase in the cooling energy.

Thermal Performance Assessment of Envelope Retrofits for Existing School Buildings in a Hot–Humid Climate: A Case Study in Chennai, India

This study aims to propose building envelope retrofit packages for existing naturally ventilated school buildings in the hot–humid climatic region of Chennai, India. Indoor thermal parameters were collected through field studies from nine sample classrooms of a selected school building in May 2019, between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm. The thermal performance assessment of the existing building was performed by examining the discomfort hours using the CBE thermal comfort tool. Envelope retrofit strategies gathered from the literature and building standards were applied and studied through simulation. The findings reveal the enormous potential to increase the thermal comfort of existing school buildings through envelope retrofit measures. The results demonstrate that the whole-building temperature can be reduced up to 3.2 °C in summer and up to 3.4 °C in winter. Implementing retrofit measures to the building envelopes of existing buildings will help school owners to increase the comfortable hours of whole buildings by up to 17%. In comparison, annual energy savings of up to 13% for the whole building can be made by enhancing the thermal performance of the building envelope. The findings will also help architects to optimise thermal performance and energy usage with minimal interventions.

The school environment and health education for confrontation to the COVID-19

Introduction: at present, one of the world's problems it is the health situation. Cuba is not an exception, and the behavior of infestation due to the new outbreak of COVID-19 that is occurring at national level is a great concern. Background: to provide some didactic and pedagogical reflections as part of an adequate school environment that make possible the correct preparation of faculty to teach students in health knowledge and thus mitigating the progressive spread of COVID-19. Method: It was conducted a research at the Universidad de Guantanamo, Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de Guantanamo, and the Instituto Politecnico Agricola de Yateras, from April 2020 throughout January 2021. A total of 30 professors and 30 students (as universe) were involved in this research (10 of each institution). The main variable used was the level of preparation of faculty in school environment and health education. Results: the indicators obtained made it possible to develop the measurement instruments. A qualitative data analysis was made attending to: data reduction, layout and transformation data, as well as the obtained outcomes and conclusions verified. Conclusions: the didactic and pedagogical reflections offered are materialized in a set of guidelines with a methodological approach that guide faculty staff and help to create a positive school environment to strengthen students' health education, based on an exhaustive analysis of the components in the teaching process.

Effect of Coronavirus on students' food security status: a case of University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Coronavirus is a novel virus that hit the world starting from developed countries to under-developed countries. Ghana is amongst the countries in Africa that observed some level of confinement by their government leading to the shutdown of various institutions including schools. The resulting impact of the policy saw students being more vulnerable to food insecurity and related issues. This paper examines the effect of Coronavirus on students' food insecurity status at the University of Cape Coast. The research design adopted for this study was the cross-sectional survey design with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana being the study area. A total of 291 students were randomly selected to participate in the study. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The findings of the study show that socioeconomic characteristics of students and food insecurity status showed no association. Students rated the extent of the effect of the pandemic as moderate and the major area of academic life affected was the change in the academic calendar. Class attendance was the most perceived effect of the pandemic. Students also reported that they were rarely food insecure. The study further found out that the best predictors of students' food insecurity were age, current level, insurance and employment status. The major challenge faced by students during Coronavirus was difficulties in their academics. This led students to adopt mitigation strategies such as online studies, paying heel to Coronavirus protocols, and self-support to mitigate the pandemic's impact. The study concluded that the academic activities of students of the University of Cape Coast were affected moderately by the pandemic and therefore recommends that the University of Cape Coast should improve its information and communication technology infrastructure to make online classes easier and the school should increase funding opportunity to less privilege students.

Toxic schools? Teacher perceptions of indoor air quality and negative place attachment

The perception of indoor air quality (IAQ) in school buildings has garnered much attention. The self-reported experiences of teachers regarding the phenomenon of suffering from toxic IAQ was missing from scholarly work before the onset of the coronavirus. Toxic IAQ can be defined as the presence of toxic chemicals or compounds (including biological) in the air at levels that pose health risks and can affect a person's health, comfort, and performance (Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2018a).Since the onset of the pandemic, teachers are leaving the workforce in unprecedented numbers due to poor working conditions, unreasonable demands, and unrealistic expectations (Steiner & Woo, 2021). Addressing teacher retention is critical to stymie continuing teacher shortages and the adverse impact on students. This sequential mixed-methods study confronts the gap between place theory, specifically the negative emotional person-place bond, and perceived IAQ in public school buildings. Little research has been presented on the role the physical workplace has on teacher well-being and whether psychosociological environmental relationships can predict place attachment outcomes. The question of how teacher perceptions of IAQ relate to negative place attachment was explored using survey research of 242 educators in four public school districts in the Midwest. Survey data was collected April-May of 2021, with 13 follow-up purposive interviews, with the criteria of teachers' presenting negative place attachment feelings, during August 2021. The research revealed the more teachers realize their health concerns about toxic IAQ in their workplace, the more negative place attachment they feel. This involves the process of grieving, and feeling frustrated, angry, exhausted, and confused, like separation and divorce. When a teacher has crossed a threshold of divorced feelings toward the school building, they make choices: to stay employed, assigned to their building, feeling negative place attachment, ask to be reassigned, or leave. The two significant predictors of negative place attachment revealed through stepwise linear regression, were physical "healthy building" attributes and health concerns about the IEQ/IAQ in the school environment. Teachers' perceptions of aged buildings as being unhealthy, including the inoperability of classroom windows, aged carpet, and lack of ventilation were better understood by understanding what it means to occupy a workplace teachers perceive to have toxic IAQ. Employees with health conditions experienced feelings of being misunderstood, not taken seriously, and additionally faced a host of complicated social interactions with their administrators, co-workers, and family because of health ailments they attributed to their workplace. The study resulted in the creation of two new theoretic models: a revisiting of Tripartite Model of Place Attachment to include place detachment, the threshold crossed in absentia of any place attachment feelings, and an epidemiological model for addressing indoor air quality in schools and suggested interventions for practice. While these models help to develop methods, redress, and identification for negative place attachment due to indoor air quality, it was not possible to identify a consistent predictor of negative place attachment. This suggests that the themes identified in the interview process alongside a predictor model can help identify schools where intervention is essential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Characteristic analysis of a local clustered outbreak of COVID-19 pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 omicron BA.2

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of a local cluster of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron BA.2, and thus provide scientific evidence for the formulation of scientific prevention and control measures. Method: Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the causes, transmission, vaccination effects and prevention measures of 12 local clustered outbreaks in Haizhu district in March and April 2022 by retrospective investigation. Results: A total of 12 infected patients were reported, all of which were confirmed infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2. Clinical manifestations: 10 cases had fever (83.33%), 7 cases had sore throat (58.33%), 7 cases had cough (58.33%), 5 cases had fatigue (41.67%), and 4 cases had headache or dizziness (33.33%), 2 cases had gastrointestinal symptoms (16.67%), and 1 case had muscle soreness (8.33%). The clinical classification is as follows: 10 cases of mild disease (83.33%), 2 cases of common type (16.67%), no severe disease and no death. The earliest infection time was March 27, and the last case was April 15. The peak incidence was concentrated on April 8 and April 10, with a total of 5 cases (41.67%). The shortest incubation period was 2 days and the longest was 14 days, with an average of 6.55 days. The geographical distribution indicated that 7 cases from Yangyang Clothing Company (58.33%), 3 cases from Guangzhou No. 3 Middle School (25.00%), and 2 cases of family clusters (16.67%). The sex ratio of all patients was 1:3. The youngest age was 18 years old and the oldest was 59 years old. The 12 cases were young adults;of which, 9 cases were 21- < 60 years old (accounting for 75.00%), and 3 cases were 18- < 21 years old (25.00%). Occupational distribution;employees were accounting for 58.33%, followed by unemployed accounting for 25.00%, and students accounting for 16.67%. A 1:3+ matched case-control analysis in 58 high-risk close contacts was conducted, and found that infection and vaccination were not statistically correlated (X2 = 0.861, P > 0.05). Similarly, by conducting a 1:1+ matched case-control analysis, we failed to observed a statistically significantly in the effect of sex on infection (X2 = 0.325, P > 0.05). Conclusions: The outbreak was caused by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2;the source of infection was still unknown, and there was hidden transmission. Therefore, strengthening personal protection and giving full play to the role of medical units and pharmacies as sentinel points and industry monitoring should be necessary for the normalization of COVID-19 pneumonia prevention and control.

Awareness and needs of parents regarding pediatric infectious diseases in kindergartens in Chenghua District of Chengdu

Objective: To understand the awereness and health needs of parents in regards to infectious diseases in kindergartens in Chengdu, and to provide a reference for carrying out targeted health education on infectious diseases. Methods: The parents of kindergarten children in Chenghua District of Chengdu was selected by convenient sampling, and a self-designed questionnaire was used. Results: The rate of awareness among parents regarding pediatric infectious diseases was 42.0%, among which the awareness rate of "treatment measures following a dog bite" was the highest (99.6%), and "the awareness rate of infectious disease classifications in China" was the lowest (26.7%). The awareness rate was related to family role, education level, occupation and income level (X2=10.81, 71.81, 93.78, 25.17, P < 0.05). The survey examined the demand for knowledge regarding pediatric infectious disease prevention and control, and revealed that parents primarily obtained such information from the school class group (85.5%). The most desirable way of obtaining relevant information was from information provided by professional institutions (96.6%), the infectious disease that parents most wanted to know about was the 2019 novel coronavirus (91.9%), and the most desirable time to acquire knowledge about infectious diseases depended on the seasonal arrangement of infectious diseases (67.5%). Conclusion: The awareness rate of parents about children's infectious diseases is in the middle level, and the channels for acquiring the knowledge about infectious diseases are relatively limited. Schools can carry out targeted health education in order to raise the awareness rate of parents of preschool children about children's infectious diseases.

COVID-19 lockdown: perception and experience

Novel coronavirus raged unnoticed and so effortlessly, many countries across the globe found that the best way to ensure people to have minimal contact with each other by issuing total lockdown. The concept of lockdown is a social boon to minimize the spread but made life difficult and easy for individuals. The current study aimed at understanding the experiences of ten different participants such as a senior citizen, home maker, and work from home candidate and school going student. The data obtained was analysed by theme analysis. It was observed that bond and attachment were increased among family members, self-care was improved despite of the crisis faced by people. Also, it has brought happiness, health, safety, satisfaction and priority among individuals.

Disrupted food supply chain's effect on school nutrition programs' ability to meet USDA nutritional guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in school closures and required school nutrition directors to shift their methods of executing the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The procurement of items, the composition of meals, and meal delivery were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to these changes, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released several waivers allowing for flexibility in meal patterns and meal delivery, while maintaining federal reimbursements to schools. Although school meals have yet to reach pre-pandemic participation numbers, school districts nationwide have experienced the effects of supply chain disruptions, therein impacting their ability to meet the nutritional standards of the NSLP and SBP. To mitigate supply chain issues and provide consistent, quality meals, School Food Authorities needed to leverage USDA's additional funding and waivers by continuing to innovate, establish, and communicate best practices for effective meal delivery.

Dormitory Food Delivery Smart Car

This paper designs a smart car that can automatically deliver meals in dormitories, isolated hotels and other scenarios. This system uses i.MX RT1064 as the main controller, and completes the route tracking and room number recognition of the smart car through the MT9V034 camera and the OpenART mini visual sensor module respectively. The target detection method is the SSD algorithm in the one-stage method. After optimization, the recognition rate is as high as 90%, which can successfully complete the meal delivery task. This system greatly reduces the risk of human-to-human contact, reduces the probability of contracting COVID-19, and contributes to epidemic prevention and control measures to minimize risks. © 2022 SPIE. All rights reserved.

A second life for school buildings by atelier PRO architects

Many educational buildings still do not have proper ventilation systems, are not sustainable in use, and contribute to the spread of Covid-19 viruses. The biggest challenge for the future is to provide attractive, useable, healthy, and sustainable educational buildings in the Netherlands. But is this challenge realistic? Old buildings are usually demolished and replaced by new ones because the government hardly gives any compensation for building renovation or transformation. This leads to the demolition of many school buildings even though the application of new raw materials is not circular and has an impact on our climate and environment. Furthermore, many pre-war buildings are heritage that have a positive impact on neighbourhoods. It is unclear who is responsible for educational buildings, renovation, and financing all the ambitions. The government, the municipality or the school foundation? Problems will soon be exacerbated. At this moment the environmental impact (MilieuPrestatieGebouwen MPG) has no legal base however, this will rapidly change in the age of a circular economy and the upcoming renovation wave. Atelier PRO architects designs many educational buildings and they noticed a change of attitude in conceptualizing educational buildings the last years in the forerunner municipality Amsterdam. Based on these cases and experiences atelier PRO learned their lessons about the ideal renovation towards attractive, healthy and sustainable educational buildings.

Hygienic aspects for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in institutions with multidimensional, special education opportunities for handicapped children

This article discusses efforts and challenges concerning the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in specialized schools or daycare facilities for handicapped children and adolescents. In this heterogeneous group, a relevant proportion may face an increased risk of a complicated infection due to underlying chronic conditions. Their capability to adhere to the rules of physical distance, hand hygiene, face masks plus aeration may be limited. In addition, wearing a mask and keeping distance impaires necessary contacts concerning nursing care and nonverbal/visual communication between children and their caregivers.

Popularizing National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) umudike innovations amongst students through the use of demonstration farms

Agricultural innovations will have little or no impact until they are shareed with stakeholders in ways that are meaningful to them. This paper highlights the use of demonstration farm by National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike to disseminate, promote and popularize her innovations for improved productivity of her mandate crops amongst student visitors from 2018-2020. The demonstration farm was set up at Umudike in the rainy season of each year following good agronomic practices recommended by the Institute. Three thousand six hundred and twelve (3612) students from ninety-four (94) schools visited the farm during the period. The students were first given a pep talk on mandate of the Institute and the objectives of the demonstration farm before a guided tour of the farm after which there was a rap up and question time during which they were individually asked of their impression of the demonstration farm. Other data collected from the visiting schools include;their state, geopolitical zone, number of students and sex of the students. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics such frequencies and percentages. Vast majority (88.90%) of the visiting schools were from the South East geopolitical zone and majorly from Abia State (53.98%) probably due to proximity of the schools in the zone and state to the Institute. They were students mostly from secondary schools (50.00%), with more females (56.45%) than males (43.55%), reflecting the prevailing pattern of school enrolment skewed in favour of females in the zone. Most students (89.56%) were impressed by the innovations demonstrated in the farm. Many were excited to see crops like turmeric and ginger for the first time and learn how they are cultivated. In 2020, there were no student visitors to the demonstration farm as a result of drastic measures taken by government to curtail the transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic which includes closure of schools and movement restrictions.