A PRESTON high school has defended the growing culture of pupils filling out questionnaires for uncommercial companies in return for free or discounted supplies.

Parent Teacher Association groups across the country have slammed the trend, which is being used in classrooms everywhere as cash-strapped schools tap into a new source of income.

They claim it is unfair to force children to take part in the so-called 'pester power' surveys, used by a firms including fast food and soft drinks companies, saying commercialism has no place in the classroom.

According to a survey reported in a BBC documentary, around 20,000 pupils regularly take part in questionnaires by telephone or face-to-face, so advertisers can find out what boosts their products.

One school which conducts questionnaires is Priory High School, Penwortham. Headteacher Maureen Harrison says her pupils carry out internet surveys in class, which are carefully supervised. She says the school sees nothing wrong with it. She said: "I don't regard it as exploitation. I'm making a professional judgement here about how children can use this kind of material in the classroom.

"I think it's to their benefit that we use this kind of material in the classroom."

Margaret Morrisey, spokeswoman for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said: "There is a place for commercialisation, but it's definitely not within school and finance is not a fair tool to use to encourage schools to do it."

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