New research has found that since the start of the economic recession teachers are witnessing increasing numbers of pupils coming into school ‘hungry’, ‘dirty’ and ‘struggling to concentrate’.

The research was based on interviews with 515 secondary school teachers in England, and was released by The Prince’s Trust charity and the Times Educational Supplement.

The survey found that:

• Almost half of teachers regularly witness pupils coming into school suffering from malnutrition or showing signs that they haven’t eaten enough. One in four of these have seen this more frequently since the start of the recession, with some teachers admitting that they often buy food for struggling pupils from their own wages.
• More than eight out of ten teachers regularly witness pupils coming into school with dirty clothes, with one in four of these seeing this more regularly since the recession.
• Seven out of ten teachers are ‘increasingly worried’ that their pupils will end up on benefits. More than one in three feel that their efforts in the classroom are ‘in vain’, due to rising levels of unemployment.

See also:

Press release by The Prince’s Trust

Press coverage in The Telegraph (27 April 2012).