US classrooms fail teachers' standards

Teachers in the US claim that more needs to be done to make classrooms cleaner and healthier for children, according to the results of the "Clean Up the Classroom Scholastic Survey: Teachers Tell All".

Conducted using a grant from The Clorox Company, the research reveals that more than two-thirds of school caretakers do not disinfect classrooms regularly, and that consequently almost 50% of teachers claim that they do so on a "regular basis". Nearly all teachers surveyed recognise the fact that germs on classroom surfaces contribute to the spread of illness, and 92% believe that more regular disinfecting in classrooms will result in fewer absences caused by illness. More than half (56%) report buying their own cleaning supplies; 12% of parents contribute by donating cleaning supplies to the teacher, and 4% report that parents help to clean classrooms. While the teachers who participated in the online Scholastic survey understand the importance of cleaning desktops, with 66% of disinfecting them "frequently", many other germ-prone surfaces are still being ignored. According to a recent University of Arizona study, other top locations for Influenza A in the classroom are sink faucet handles, paper towel dispenser levers and entrance doorknobs.