Sinn Féin is calling on the Government to put measures in place in the coming weeks to address the high annual costs of preparing children for the next school year.
Speaking in the Dáil recently, Laois TD Brian Stanley said that ‘the cost of education is a bigger worry for families, as we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis’.
He said: “The Government can and must do certain things to ease that pressure on parents and students.
“At primary and secondary level, not only do parents face the expensive cost of schoolbooks, with an average cost of €200 plus, they are also expected to make voluntary contributions, which can be in the region of more than €200, in some cases.
“They have to pay transition year fees, find money for extracurricular activities and, of course, there is the annual cost of uniforms.
“On top of that, there is a charge for school transport in rural areas. It is a reduced charge, but it is still there. Some have to arrange transport through private bus companies.
“I know of several cases in counties Laois and Offaly where people are getting their children to school via private bus hire, which runs into huge figures every year.
“Year on year, we are seeing requests for voluntary contributions of well over €100 and, in some cases, €200 plus per child. There is significant pressure on families to contribute, with real stigma attached to pupils if their contribution is not made.
“The reason this is happening in the first place is due to the lack of funding from the Department. The school capitation grant has to be dealt with in this budget, particularly at primary level.
“We cannot continue doing it on the cheap. The cost of heating, insurance and all the overhead costs at primary schools – the Minister will know this as a teacher herself – have gone up in recent years.
“According to the most recent back-to-school survey from the Irish League of Credit Unions, funding continues to be a huge headache for parents with more than two thirds stating that covering back-to-school costs is a major financial burden for them.
“We call on the Government to expand the free books scheme to secondary schools to ease that financial burden on parents during that difficult period. At third level, student fees now pose a potential barrier to education.
“It is totally unacceptable that this can happen because the right to third level education should be there regardless of what strata children come from. The Government should not consider increasing student fees this September.
“That must be stopped. We call on the Government to cancel that planned increase and increase the school capitation grant in the next budget. For our part, we are committed to ending voluntary contributions by increasing the capitation grants.
“Parents with children who are going back to school in September are facing huge financial pressures. The Government must act now and not in three months’ time to ease that burden,” Deputy Stanley concluded.
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