Teachers complain of vermin, pests and sewage leaks in schools
Schools are also too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.
Huge number of schools are plagued by vermin, pests and sewage leaks, teachers have warned.
A survey of 8,000 National Education Union (NEU) members in England and Wales also found school buildings were damp, mouldy, leaking rain water, and too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.
More than half of respondents believe issues with buildings and facilities have a negative impact on pupils’ ability to learn.
The survey revealed 41% of teachers have seen signs of vermin or pests at school,45% reported mould or damp and 68% work in buildings with rain water leaks.
Meanwhile, one in three (33%) respondents said overheating in the summer was a ‘severe’ issue in their workplace, and 16% said being ‘too cold’ in the winter was a ‘severe’ problem.
The findings were released on the final day of the NEU’s annual conference in Bournemouth.
NEU Members had been asked how often issues with buildings and facilities affected the learning environment for their pupils.
Nearly a fifth (18%) said this was usually or always the case, while nearly two in five (39%) said this was sometimes the case.
One survey respondent said: ‘Carpets in the corridors are sodden with rainwater coming in through the roof, damp and mould everywhere, holes in ceilings, blocked drains cause flooding.
‘Pupil toilets have taken almost six weeks to refurb, therefore the classroom was out of action too.’
Another wrote: ‘The conditions have led to diagnosis of asthma in staff and pupils and led to long-term sickness due to lung infection and exacerbation of asthma.’
A third said there were not enough rooms for ‘the interventions and support our students need’.
They continued: ‘I have delivered interventions sitting on the floor of corridors or in cloakrooms.’
One teacher wrote: ‘We had no boiler (heating/hot water/access to school kitchen) for eight weeks before Christmas. Staff and kids were freezing. Unable to provide hot meals.’
The survey comes less than a year after the RAAC crisis, which saw several schools partially or fully close on a temporary basis because lightweight concrete used to build them was deemed at risk of collapsing.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: ‘There are limits to a culture of ‘make do and mend’, and the line that should not be crossed is when it comes to our nation’s children.
‘As this survey shows, pupils are routinely being taught in conditions that have a negative impact on their learning and could even impact their health.
‘This is by no means the fault of school leaders, who are doing the best they can with the facilities and budgets they have.’
He added: ‘Leaks and ventilation are a chronic issue for many. The fact is that this Government has neglected school and college buildings for 14 years.’
A spokesperson for Department for Education said schools and sixth form colleges will get £1.8 billion this financial year to help building maintenance, taking total amount of government funding since 2015 to £17 billion.
They argued it is ‘up to responsible bodies, such as local authorities and trusts, to make their own decisions on investment in their schools each year’.
They continued: ‘Just last week we also confirmed 733 schools and sixth form colleges will benefit from the £450 million Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) in 2024-25, and our School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at over 500 schools over the next decade.
‘We offer additional emergency support on a case-by-case basis to schools which face significant issues that could risk building closures – and in just a matter of months we have completed our identification programme and confirmed how we will fund removal of Raac from our schools and colleges for good.’
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