THE crippling effect that poverty has on pupils was highlighted by teachers in Scotland yesterday.

Incoming EIS president Nicola Fisher warned: “Poverty damages the physical and mental health of children, affects their life chances and life expectancy,” as she moved a motion calling on the union to highlight the effect of poverty on pupils and the barriers poor families face in meeting the costs associated with school.

“There are children who have gone to school today hungry, in ill-fitting clothes, worried they will be mocked by their peers,” she said, revealing that local authority school uniform grants for poor families vary widely across Scotland, with some allowing as little as £20 per pupil.