More pupils are coming to school hungry and without essential equipment as the cost-of-living crisis hits hard, a teaching union has said.
A NASUWT Scotland survey of 360 teachers found many examples of teachers providing money, food and clothing to help children and families contend with severe financial difficulties.
That has prompted a call from the union for universal free school meals as an “immediate step”.
NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said: “At a time when many teachers are already struggling financially, they are routinely digging deep into their own pockets to provide urgent help to their pupils.”
Dr Roach said that ”it should not be left to schools and teachers to pick up the pieces of the cost-of-living crisis” and use their own money to help “families in desperate need”.
He added: “The responsibility should rest with ministers, not with schools, to tackle poverty and ensure families are able to send children to school ready and equipped to learn.”
Teachers who took part in the survey left comments on the effect on their pupils of rising poverty. There was testimony about buying water, snacks, books and underwear for children, and of pupils themselves setting up clothing banks to help struggling families.
Currently, all pupils in the first five years of primary school in Scotland are entitled to free school meals. The Scottish government has delayed plans for free school meals to be extended to the final two years of primary school, which was initially due to happen in August 2022. That issue is due to be the subject of a motion at the SNP annual conference in Aberdeen on Monday.
Mike Corbett, NASUWT national official for Scotland, said: “An immediate step forward that would assist struggling families would be for the Scottish government to commit to the introduction of universal free school meals for all pupils.”
A similar call was made in September by the EIS teaching union.
Mr Corbett also said: “There can be little doubt that the cost-of-living crisis is harming pupils’ education, learning and development.
“It is outrageous that we should be seeing more and more families who are struggling or unable to feed, clothe or keep a roof over their children’s heads.
“The financial worry and anxiety that many parents are already experiencing is also being felt by children and is likely to have a negative impact on their education.”
Scottish Labour education spokesperson Michael Marra said: “It is a national scandal that children are going to school without the food, clothes, and materials they need.
“Pupils who have already had their education thrown into chaos during the pandemic are once again being let down.
“We urgently need action from both our governments to tackle this crisis before things get any worse, as well as properly funding our schools and supporting the teachers going above and beyond.”
Anti-poverty campaigners are calling for action as a “heart-breaking” report revealed a “bleak picture of a society in crisis”.
Meanwhile, a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) had found that nearly one in five households on low incomes in Scotland have gone both hungry and cold this year.
The JRF Poverty in Scotland report includes data from a survey by Savanta ComRes of 4,196 Scottish households in July and August this year.
It found that people are “desperately” cutting back, with nearly two in three respondents (65 per cent) saying they have cut back on an essential, while one in four (26 per cent) have cut back on three or more essentials.
Researchers found that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting people’s mental health, with three in four families with a child where someone has a disability and four in five families with a baby saying it was having a negative impact.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We know this is a worrying time. The Scottish government is doing everything it can to support people facing rising costs, but there is a limit to what we can do within our limited powers and fixed budget, and we have repeatedly called on the UK government to provide more targeted support for low-income households.
“We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year that will contribute towards mitigating the cost-of-living crisis and almost a third of this support is only available in Scotland.
“This includes the Scottish Child Payment, a vital anti-poverty benefit and one of five family benefits we provide to support children which will be increased to £25 per eligible child per week when we extend it to under-16s on 14 November. With its increase to £20 in April, this represents a 150 per cent rise within eight months.”
The spokesperson added: “We provide the most generous universal free school meal provision of any UK nation. All pupils in primary one to five, as well as thousands of other eligible pupils to S6, benefit from universal free school lunches during term time, saving families on average £400 per child per year. We also provide free school meal support over the holidays for eligible families.
“Help is also available through the School Clothing Grant, which we increased last year to £120 per child of primary school age and £150 per child of secondary school age.
“In addition, Scotland has provided free period products in education settings since 2018 and last month became the first country in the world to place in law the right to access free period products for anyone who needs them.”
