The majority of teachers would like to spend more time teaching their classes about charity and social issues, but many believe the current focus on league tables is standing in the way, according to research commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation.

CAF commissioned a survey of 200 secondary school teachers, which found that 74 per cent wanted to boost the amount of time spent discussing charity and social issues with pupils, while 95 per cent agreed that fundraising was a great way to motivate students. 

However 67 per cent of teachers questioned said that the pressures of league tables make it harder for schools to increase students education on charity and social issues. Other barriers included crowded school timetables (57 per cent) and a focus on exams (54 per cent). 

The research was undertaken as part of CAF's Growing Giving campaign and Parliamentary Inquiry launched last month. The umbrella body seeks to narrow the generation gap that currently relies on the over-60s who are more than twice as likely to give to charity as the under-30's. 

The full Growing Up Giving report conducted 1,000 interviews with young people from nine to 18-years-old in February this year. It found that 78 per cent of children "think charities play an important role in our country" and that 68 per cent think young people should give up some of their time to help others. 71 per cent said that they would give money to charity in the next year and 62 per cent said they would raise money for charity in the next year. 

The research claims that "schools lie at the heart of the bond between young people and charities", with  61 per cent saying they would be encouraged to do charity work if it were arranged for them by their school. Less than half agreed that they would welcome charities coming to their school and just 53 per cent welcomed the idea of charity theme days, although these three options were the ones that the young people most agreed with. At the opposite end of the spectrum, celebrities, parents and friends talking about charities were all deemed less important, with 30 per cent, 22 per cent and 18 per cent (respectively) in agreement that this would encourage them to help charities.