School furniture is an integral part of any student. Whether the students notice or not, a major part of their activities and time during school are spent on them.

They play on them, make friends on them, fight for them and sometimes fight on them. Having been to a no. of government schools I could easily remember those uncomfortable chairs and desk which used to make us yawn and tired even before recess, and those desks which become absolutely redundant once the school is over. Such a huge infrastructure, plays no part in learning, and leave that, is not even able to do its job, to provide comfortable learning environment. But comfort here in these government schools is itself a luxury, because presence of furniture itself bears a big question mark.

Hence, the issue does not lie only in not being able to provide comfort but also in bad maintenance and/or absence of furniture in these schools, and it all raises a question of why if the ill condition of the furniture is visible to everyone, still exists? In this regard it is more important to understand that it’s not only the financial aspect which is responsible for such a scenario but also the nature of design of these furniture.

In 2012, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, presented some facts about the ill designs of classroom furniture, especially in government schools. The report shows a even technical picture where it discusses about the mismatch in these furniture designs to the anthropometry of the students using it. This makes the argument even more valid.

However, various facets of this issue of furniture design in govt. schools are so deeply rooted to the system that its difficult to solve each of them. Hence, as a focus of academic research it is well understood to take it as a design exercise and tackle issues only in critical design perspective.

Nevertheless, this would be helpful in understanding the real life problems and problem solving in a first hand experience. And, through this research, if one is able to improve the conditions of these schools even with a very less margin, then it should be considered a success.

Case Study Download:
• Furniture for Govt. Primary Schools......