Teachers forced to wash school students' uniform and install washing machines in schools due to 'hygiene poverty'
16 November 2024, 11:59 | Updated: 16 November 2024, 14:05
Teachers in some parts of the UK have been left to personally wash students' school uniforms and install washing machines to combat students' poor hygiene.
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Hygiene poverty is having an impact on Britain's schools, with 80% of teachers citing an increase in hygiene poverty among school students.
The findings were laid out in a survey by smol - a cleaning brand - and the Hygiene Bank charity.
The teachers believe that students' poor hygiene can lead to increased bullying or isolation from peers.
40% of teachers who responded to the survey confirmed that they had washed a school student's uniform themselves, meanwhile nearly 90% of teachers said they had assisted students with hygiene products.
The survey includes responses from 503 employees at state schools across the UK.
Read more: Mother's fury after daughter 'threatened with detention for wearing poppy to school'
'Choice'
Lisa Cropper, a family support practitioner at St Cuthbert's Academy in Blackpool, told Sky News that parents had confided in her that they felt they had to make a "choice" between washing and the electricity.
The school has installed a launderette after receiving funding from smol.
She added that when families struggled to afford washing detergent in a particular week, they would come to her to ask: "'I don't get paid until Friday, and uniform day is coming up. Is there any chance we could just do one wash?'"
Sarah Smith, headteacher of St Cuthbert's, said it was "incredibly difficult" for families to heat heir homes, put food on the table, and wash clothes - Sky News reports.
"It's just part and parcel of what happens now."
'Stain'
A government spokesperson told Sky: "We are taking action to deliver our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and remove the stain of child poverty from our country.
"That includes legislating to bring down school uniform costs by capping the number of branded items, and as many as 750 schools will begin delivering breakfast clubs as early as next April."
