Parents asked by schools to pay for toilet roll

PARENTS are being asked to pay for basic items for their children’s schools – including toilet paper.

A study has found schools want families to contribute funds and help out with maintenance such as redecorating classrooms.

Some 15 per cent of parents have been asked to supply teaching equipment such as stationery and books.

And almost a fifth – 17 per cent – of families say proposed cost-cutting solutions at their children’s schools include being asked to supply ‘essentials’ such as toilet paper.

Of this group, 7 per cent said the suggestions had actually been implemented.

The findings of the poll by PTA UK, a charity supporting parents’ role in education, shine a light on the growing burden being placed on parents as schools struggle to provide for children on squeezed budgets.

Education Secretary Justine Greening has announced an extra £1.3billion allocated to schools, although some unions have suggested this will not be enough to plug funding gaps.

PTA UK quizzed more than 1,500 parents about any cost-cutting measures their child’s school has implemented. Fifteen per cent said class sizes had been increased while the same proportion said the number of teaching assistants had been cut.

Around 13 per cent said their child’s school had implemented a scheme of parents paying a regular contribution to the school fund. The same proportion said parents had been asked to help with maintenance activities such as cutting grass.

Just over one in ten (11 per cent) said subjects had been dropped and the same percentage said the number of supply teachers had been cut.

Around a tenth said schools had cut back on equipment like computers. The same percentage said money had been used from the PTA fund to support the school’s core budget.

Eight per cent said the length of the school day had been reduced, while a further 8 per cent said teachers’ training had been cut. Around 5 per cent said their school had reduced the school week to four days.

PTA UK acting chief executive Michelle Doyle Wildman said: ‘Parents are reporting that they are contributing more to provide the essentials which many expect to be provided by the state.’

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘No parent is required to make a contribution to their child’s education.

‘The rules are clear on this and no policies have been introduced by this government to allow schools to charge for education provided during school hours, and this includes the supply of any materials or equipment.’

‘They expect this to be provided’