The UK’s leading teachers’ union, NASUWT, says schools and teachers are now having to deal with the ramifications of poor housing and poverty.
Press TV: The NASUWT general secretary, Chris Keates said, "Poverty and homelessness take a physical and emotional toll on children. They often cannot concentrate when they are in school because they are tired and hungry, have no space to do homework."
The situation has now come to a point where teachers have had to take it upon themselves to provide the most basic supplies to pupils, whose parents simply cannot afford the day-to-day essentials.
President of the Britain’s other leading teacher’s union, the National Union of Teachers, Philipa Harvey has said, "Many of us will have provided breakfast for children so that they can cope with the demands of a school day as well as the teachers and other staff who are providing school uniform, books, coats."
One teacher said, "Children in 2015 should not be hungry and coming to school with no socks on and no coats, some children are living in Victorian conditions, in the inner cities.”
Education has become a key election issue. The Labour party have pledged should they win the upcoming general election they would renew the aim to eradicate child poverty by 2020.
Tristram Hunt, Labours shadow education secretary says, "If a child has no food to eat, no safe and warm space to call their own, no books to read, no uniform to wear, no money for transport to school, then that child cannot possibly be learning at their full potential."
The Conservatives have claimed that in the last five years under the coalition government the number of children in poverty has fallen by 300,000.
Now Jonathan Rosenhead, University professor and social analyst believes poverty “is a product of government’s economic policies. The initial problem of course will be world credit crisis in 2008 which is still something across everywhere. The problem is the British government’s classical policy of austerity which is cutting public expenditure, which means the growth which might come from government’s investment in infrastructure in not happening. So, the recovery from that has been very slow and that’s largely due to government’s policy. The result is that incomes have been kept very low and for the poor the level of income is well below what it was seven year ago.”
Rosenhead told Press TV’s UK Desk on Sunday that “I think the school poverty or [the issue of] children coming to school without having enough to eat, is an indication that the government has not done enough.”
“We have hunger as an extraordinary thing in one of the richest countries and we have seen an explosive growth in food banks which is food donated by well-intention people or by the supermarkets.”
Source
The situation has now come to a point where teachers have had to take it upon themselves to provide the most basic supplies to pupils, whose parents simply cannot afford the day-to-day essentials.
President of the Britain’s other leading teacher’s union, the National Union of Teachers, Philipa Harvey has said, "Many of us will have provided breakfast for children so that they can cope with the demands of a school day as well as the teachers and other staff who are providing school uniform, books, coats."
One teacher said, "Children in 2015 should not be hungry and coming to school with no socks on and no coats, some children are living in Victorian conditions, in the inner cities.”
Education has become a key election issue. The Labour party have pledged should they win the upcoming general election they would renew the aim to eradicate child poverty by 2020.
Tristram Hunt, Labours shadow education secretary says, "If a child has no food to eat, no safe and warm space to call their own, no books to read, no uniform to wear, no money for transport to school, then that child cannot possibly be learning at their full potential."
The Conservatives have claimed that in the last five years under the coalition government the number of children in poverty has fallen by 300,000.
Now Jonathan Rosenhead, University professor and social analyst believes poverty “is a product of government’s economic policies. The initial problem of course will be world credit crisis in 2008 which is still something across everywhere. The problem is the British government’s classical policy of austerity which is cutting public expenditure, which means the growth which might come from government’s investment in infrastructure in not happening. So, the recovery from that has been very slow and that’s largely due to government’s policy. The result is that incomes have been kept very low and for the poor the level of income is well below what it was seven year ago.”
Rosenhead told Press TV’s UK Desk on Sunday that “I think the school poverty or [the issue of] children coming to school without having enough to eat, is an indication that the government has not done enough.”
“We have hunger as an extraordinary thing in one of the richest countries and we have seen an explosive growth in food banks which is food donated by well-intention people or by the supermarkets.”
Source
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