Classroom noise pollution and its impact on students' behavioral engagement in secondary schools in Ojo local government area, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This cross-sectional study assessed measured classroom noise and students' self-reported behavioral engagement in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State. Six schools were purposively selected by ownership and proximity to the main road. Noise was measured in 30 classrooms (five per school) with a SMART SENSOR AS844+ sound level meter in three sessions (background, morning and afternoon) over five school days, and a questionnaire was administered to 900 students (150 per school). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and chi-square tests. Mean background levels ranged from 34.3 to 46.5 dB(A), and five of the six schools exceeded the 35 dB(A) WHO/ANSI limit for unoccupied classrooms. Mean occupied-classroom levels ranged from 64.9 to 77.8 dB(A) in the morning and from 70.7 to 84.2 dB(A) in the afternoon, above the 55 dB(A) reference value at every school. Among students, 61.5% reported that classroom noise occurred often or very often, 62.7% found it difficult to concentrate when the classroom was noisy, and 58.9% reported that teacher explanation was the lesson phase most disrupted. Chi-square tests showed no significant school differences in response distributions, although ANOVA indicated differences for some items. Measured acoustic conditions and students' perceptions were not statistically linked, so the findings are descriptive and do not establish that noise caused reduced engagement. Reducing student-generated noise and improving classroom acoustics merit testing in longitudinal or multilevel studies.