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by Kerri Carr
Organisations associated with schools have spoken out about their concern for how dirty schools are and the consequent health risks.
Cleaners are given just nine minutes by their employer to clean a classroom.
Federation, the NSW Federation of P&C Associations and the Public Schools Principals Forum agree that cleaning rooms to an acceptable standard in this time is impossible.
They are not complaining about the cleaners, but blame the terms of the cleaning contract between the Government and three cleaning firms.
The lack of hours given to cleaners to clean schools means chewing gum remains on chairs, graffiti remains on desks, there's dust on fans, fittings are not clean, chairs are not clean, floors are not clean and bins not emptied across the state.
Canterbury-Bankstown Teachers Association's Jennifer Killen said that since the new cleaning contracts came into being last year, problems with the cleaning contractors had been a regular feature at association meetings.
The cleaning contract doesn't specify hours, it specifies standards of cleanliness, but as the contractors are private firms, they aim to make a profit.
Public Schools Principals Forum chairperson Brian Chudleigh said to reduce their overheads, contractors were reducing labour.
He said that at his school unemptied rubbish bins attracted vermin.
"That is a health risk," Mr Chudleigh said.
He said money had come out of the school's budget to rid the school of cockroaches and fleas.
"Clearly we need more staff [to clean] and we're not getting that under the current contract," Mr Chudleigh added.
At St Johns Park Public School, contractors Broadlex propose to cut cleaning hours from the current 101 hours per week to 70.5 hours per week at a time when the school population has reached 872 - its largest ever.
Despite the increase in students and staff, Broadlex is proposing a cut of more than 30 per cent to the school's cleaning hours.
Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union members fail to see how the current standard of cleaning can be maintained if cleaning hours cuts of that magnitude are carried out.
Federation Assistant General Secretary Barry Johnson said the one thing the community would expect from the Government was that public schools were properly cleaned.
"This is not happening at the moment," he said.
"School cleaning contracts allow for the reduction of cleaning hours over the life of the contract.
"It is a matter of logic that if
there is not adequate time to clean schools properly now, they will be even less clean when the hours are reduced," Mr Johnson said.
NSW Federation of P&C Associations President Bev Baker said:
"Parents have a right to expect that when they send their children to school, the schools will be clean. It is unrealistic to expect classrooms to be properly cleaned in nine minutes. All they get in this time is a lick and a promise and this is unacceptable."
Cleaners employed by Menzies Cleaning Company were proposing 48-hour strike action, due to start April 7, with a return to work tomorrow (Tuesday April 11) to protest massive cuts to cleaning hours.