File photo. Photo: 123RF
A Ministry of Education poster promoting safe air quality in schools has been criticised for supplying contradictory information.
The poster suggested opening a window if the pollutants in the air of a room exceeded 1250 parts per million - whereas the ministry's official guidelines said the room should be vacated if that was the case.
DIY CO2 monitor builder Oliver Seiler said the ministry was messing up a lot of hard work that had been done to ensure schools were safe.
He had been monitoring classroom levels and said numbers had increased since the coldest months.
"So they're kind of suggesting that up to 1250pm, you don't need to do anything and that is a very risky approach, because we know that the chance for infection is really super high already at these levels," he said.
"In my opinion this poster is actively harming our children."
Seiler said schools he had worked with had contacted him with confusion about the contradictory guidelines.
Following the poster's advice would harm children and cause cognitive issues, and it should be retracted by the ministry, he said.
The Ministry of Education said: “The advice in the poster, agreed and reviewed by an expert panel of ventilation advisers from the Ministry of Health, the universities of Canterbury, Massey and Victoria, BRANZ and GNS Science, is consistent with our advice to schools. This advice can be found here: Ventilation in schools | Te Mahau."
"All schools and kura have been provided with regularly updated ventilation guidance throughout the pandemic alongside CO2 monitors and portable air cleaners to support them in managing ventilation and reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19."