Proposal for National Standard of Elementary School based on Students’ Anthropometry

Abstract

In 2018, the National Standardization Agency of Indonesia issued the Indonesian National Standard SNI 8519:2018 and SNI 8518:2018 to define the school furniture dimension as guidelines for school authorities and manufacturers in Indonesia. The updated standard replaced the previous standards SNI 7555.4.2009 and SNI 7555.19.2011 for desks dan chairs. This study aims to evaluate the dimensions of school furniture in the SNI 8519:2018 and SNI 8518:2018 according to the up-to-date Indonesian students’ anthropometry and propose the sizing and new dimensions for a national standard. The national dimensions of the chair were evaluated in terms of seat height, seat depth, seat width, and backrest height as well desk height. Anthropometric data were taken from 1,506 students, including stature, sitting shoulder height, sitting elbow height, popliteal height, buttock-popliteal length, knee height, and hip breadth. A set of criteria was used to evaluate the dimensions of school furniture according to students’ anthropometry. The results showed a high percentage of mismatch between students’ anthropometry and the dimension of chair and desk. The mismatched findings proved that the current national standard needs to be revised. Further, the mismatch between school furniture with students’ anthropometry could lead to the occurrence of health problems for students. Five sizes were proposed to accommodate students’ anthropometry from Grade 1 to Grade 6. In addition, a stature-size chart was also designed and proposed to help as practical guidelines and use so that it could help students directly and simply choose their size, which could match their anthropometry.