What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

More than a million teaching hours are lost each year as primary school teachers have to spend time cleaning up children after they go to the toilet, a new report has found.

A combination of poor toilet facilities and poor hygiene habits are negatively impacting on children’s education, health and wellbeing.

Some facilities are so poor that children actively avoid using the toilet and adopting unhealthy behaviours to do so.

And teachers are worried about escalating number of children beginning school without toilet training.

The ‘Bottom of the Class’ report, produced by hygeine products firm Essity using surveys performed by YouGov found a fifth of primary school teachers spend up to 30 minutes a week cleaning up children after visits to the toilet.

(Image: South Wales Echo)

That adds up to more than a million hours of lost teaching time in UK schools over the course of an academic year.

Based on the average salary of a primary school teacher, this lost time amounts to a cost of £11 million to the education system.

Some 44% of children avoid using a school toilet during the week, with 11% doing so daily.

And one in ten primary school teachers have witnessed children not eating or drinking in order to avoid having to use school toilets.

According to the report, a quarter of primary school teachers and children describe hygiene levels in school toilets as poor or very poor, with a fifth reporting that no checks are made on them during the day.

Peter Cansell, national executive information officer at the National Association of Primary Education, said: “This is an area which is often a cause for concern in schools and we welcome moves to improve the situation.

“Primary schools play a vital role in helping to shape children at a critical time in their lives, providing the springboard for all their future learning and shaping the habits and behaviours that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. This environment is the first community outside of the family where we all begin to understand our place in the world".

Essity UK’s Managing Director, Kevin Starr, said: “The findings of this report indicate a worrying and growing problem regarding hygiene standards within UK primary schools.

“From inadequate toilet facilities that are unclean and poorly equipped, to the poor hygiene habits of children coming to school unable to wipe their bottom properly or wash their hands correctly, the issues are widespread and transcend socio-economic boundaries.”