Calls for free secondary school books

A Cork TD has added his voice to those urging the Government to extend its new Free Primary Schoolbooks Scheme to secondary schools.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork South-Central, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said he fully supports the recent call from children’s charity Barnardos.

It comes following a survey carried out by the charity which found that it costs almost €1,000 to send a child to attend first year in secondary school.

“With the weeks ticking down to when school doors reopen at the end of the month, the harsh realities of spiralling back-to-school costs is now really hitting home for families across the state,” said Deputy Ó Laoghaire.

This Barnardos survey found that the average cost of the basics needed for a first year secondary school pupil is €972 and a fifth year pupil is €863.

Two-thirds of secondary school parents (66%) stated they are worried about meeting costs this year, with 50% saying cost of living increases have made it much more difficult to meet costs.

One in four secondary school parents said they had to take out a loan or borrow from friends in order to meet back to school costs.

One secondary school parent said: “I will go without essentials to make sure my school financial contribution will be met. Some children are made to feel inferior when they are – very publicly – not given a Journal or locker key.”

The Government’s new Free Primary Schoolbooks scheme removes the cost of schoolbooks from families with children and young people enrolled in recognised primary schools and special schools.

Parents will no longer be required to make any contribution towards the cost of schoolbooks, including the cost of any workbooks or copybooks. However, the scheme does not currently extend to secondary schools.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire continued: “With so many already struggling in a cost-of-living crisis, with eye-watering energy bills and increased mortgage repayments, families need a break from back-to-school costs now.”

Sinn Féin had originally urged the Government to consider extending the scheme in a motion brought before the Dáil in June. Although the motion was not opposed, Deputy Ó Laoghaire says Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, has so far failed to act to ease the financial pressure on families sending their children to secondary school.

He said: “Extending the School Books Grant Scheme to post-primary schools would be one meaningful step she could take now to ease the financial burden on parents of post-primary students.

“The reality is that ‘free education’ in this state is ‘free’ in name only. It is a myth. Parents are already trying to budget for significant additional costs, for everything from uniforms to devices, from books to transport.

“Each and every one of those costs will be felt sharply, putting already hard-pressed parents to the pin of their collar.

“On top of all of this, parents are being asked to pay hundreds of euros in so-called ‘voluntary contributions’.”