PARENTS should demand that schools speak up on asbestos, the NUT said yesterday as it revealed that four in five schools fail to offer information on managing the “silent killer.”

A motion to be heard at the teachers’ union’s conference in Harrogate today says that 300 former pupils and 15 teachers are dying of mesothelioma — the cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

There could be extra risk for kids at free schools, which are often opened in “unsuitable buildings,” the union said.

At least three-quarters of schools have the substance on site, often in ceilings, walls and panelling around windows. It is most prevalent in schools built between 1945 and 1975.

NUT asbestos lead Sarah Lyons said that kids were at even more risk than teachers because mesothelioma usually materialises decades after exposure to asbestos.

“As a union we’re equally concerned for teachers as we are for children, but obviously children are more at risk because they’ve got more life ahead of them,” said Ms Lyons.

The motion says that schools “frequently underestimate” the risk of asbestos and fail to realise that pupils are “very likely” to disturb asbestos insulation boards.

A survey of 200 teachers showed that 99 per cent favoured a long-term strategy for removing asbestos, but the government has said that “management” is sufficient.

The NUT said it would work with construction unions campaigning on the issue, but had not yet pursued any court claims.