Children returning to school with ‘dirty uniforms’ and ‘unclean teeth’, say teachers

According to Metro, “Dirty uniforms and PE kits, unwashed hair and unclean teeth were the most cited indicators of hygiene poverty by the staff.”

The research, from Smol, in partnership with the charity The Hygiene Bank, has found that almost three-quarters of teachers (71 per cent) have been aware of pupils who they knew or believed to be experiencing hygiene poverty in the past six months, not being able to afford many of the everyday hygiene and personal grooming products most of us take for granted. Seventy-four per cent of parents who have struggled to buy hygiene essentials in the past year had sent a child to school in unclean clothes at some point; almost one in five (18 per cent) said this had happened ‘several times’, and two per cent had even had to compromise washing socks and underwear.