Newsfeed

This article, especially written for the NUT is one of many on all subjects relating to education in England and Wales. Since 2002 we have been archiving these articles and you can visit the Newswire Archive here

---

MP raises concerns about danger of school asbestos  ^[26/03/2009]

Concerns about the potential danger caused by asbestos in schools are being raised in parliament today.

Schools minister Jim Knight is today being urged to take action to deal with the deadly material, exposure to which can cause the onset of cancer mesothelioma.

An average of 3,000 people die each year from this condition, which can only be triggered by asbestos.

MP Paul Rowen will today urge Mr Knight to take action against the "ticking-timebomb" of low-level asbestos in schools.

He told politics.co.uk that despite not necessarily having expertise about the subject, local authorities are given a lot of the responsibility for managing the problem.

One Dorset teacher contracted mesothelioma after working in schools for 28 years, Mr Rowen said.

And he noted that while he was a deputy headteacher no training about dealing with asbestos was provided to him.

Almost 90 per cent of Britain's schools could be contaminated with asbestos, according to freedom of informational requests issued by the Daily Mirror recently.