Education & Literacy

Better lighting in the home immediately improves conditions for education for students in the home. In many developing countries, daylight ends between 6.00 pm and 6:30 pm. The precious daylight hours are used primarily for productive activities and in most rural communities, children have to spend a lot of their time during the day to help with family chores. For the majority, studying during the day is not an option. As the sun sets and the homes get dark, candles or a kerosene lantern is burned to provide light in the home. Unfortunately, the light from kerosene lamps is so poor that children can only see their schoolbooks if they are almost on top of the flame, directly inhaling even more of the toxic smoke. Heat fracture and spillage is common and results in countless injuries to children when studying. Poor lighting affects literacy and education.

As Mills found that even in “optimal” conditions, kerosene provides approximately 6 lux (at one metre distance), which is far below recommended levels. With approximately 100 lux at one metre distance, the LUTW Solid State Lighting (SSL) system offers superior conditions for activities such as reading, which is a key component of formal education. As one user of a LUTW designed SSL system in Sri Lanka stated: “the doctor told me not to let my son study at night, because the smoke from the kerosene would make his asthma worse. Now that we have LEDs he can study at night”.

The ability to read and study after sundown has an enormous impact on the lives of those with little opportunity. Not the least of these benefits is the improvement in education of children and women in areas where poverty and illiteracy walk hand in hand. Education leads to people centered development – a knowledgeable population that can work towards addressing the needs of their community.